Just Group reinstates dividend following 12-months of growth
Just Group has reinstated a dividend, which is expected to grow over time, rewarding shareholders following 12-months of growth.
The “sustainable” dividend of 1p per share will swell from 2021’s pro-forma base level of 1.5p, the retirement group said in its latest financial update today.
Retirement income sales jumped 25 per cent to £2.7bn in the year to 31 December, which equates to around £600m worth of growth from its 2020 figure.
The London-listed group also enjoyed a 13 per cent rise in new business profits, as higher volumes pulled in £225m for the full-year.
After what CEO David Richardson hailed as an “excellent set of results”, the group has outlined a new growth target for the medium term – for underlying operating profit to climb 15 per cent per year.
“New business premiums, underlying operating profits and underlying capital generation have improved significantly on the previous year,” Richardson said in a statement. “Furthermore, we have also attained a sustainable level of underlying capital generation and coverage ratio to be in a position to re-commence dividend payments.”
The Treasury’s solvency reforms are “welcomed”, Richardson continued, as he hoped the second bout of reform objectives will increase investment opportunities for the group – to both bolster its Just’s business model but to also support the government’s so-called levelling-up plans.
It follows the sale of a portfolio of lifetime mortgages to Rothesay Life in late February for around £687m in cash.
The proceeds will be reinvested into a mixture of fixed interest assets, Just announced at the time.