Dividend
Profit and earnings per share have increased and our cash reserves remain, as usual solid. However, profit is an accounting term and, we believe, the true measure of a business is return as measured by dividends paid to shareholders. Consequently, it is pleasing to report that the Board proposes, once again, an increased final dividend. The final dividend will be 7.858p (2014: 7.0p) representing a 12.3% increase which combined with the interim dividend, paid in June 2015, of 3.142p (2014: 3.0p) makes a total of 11.0p (2014: 10.0p) for the year, an increase of 10.0%. This is the highest level of dividend in our long history.
