Financial highlights
Robust growth in profits
Strong free cash flow, leading to continued reduction in leverage
Increase in proposed full year dividend to 7.2p, resulting in payout ratio of 57%2 of net earnings (PY: 49.5%)
Expectation of increased future free cash flow with lower capital required for underwriting, supporting higher dividend payout guidance of 50% to 70%
|
31 January 2016 |
31 January 2015 |
Change |
|
|
Trading EBITDA |
£238.8m |
£227.4m |
5.0% |
|
Trading Profit |
£211.0m |
£200.6m |
5.2% |
|
Profit before tax |
£176.2m |
£113.8m |
54.8% |
|
Basic earnings per share |
13.3p |
8.6p |
54.7% |
|
Debt ratio (net debt to EBITDA) |
2.3x |
2.6x |
|
|
Available operating cash flow |
£178.1m |
£163.0m |
9.3% |
|
Proposed full year dividend |
7.2p |
4.1p |
75.6% |
Operational Highlights
Insurance:
Underlying growth in core insurance policies of 3.1%3
Successful launch of the motor insurance panel, with four 3rd party insurers now participating
Continued strong performance in motor insurance underwriting
Review of capital in motor underwriting complete, with decision made to reduce capital deployed through quota share arrangement agreed with NewRe
Strong capital position under Solvency II with Solvency Capital Ratio of 170%
Travel:
Continued customer and profit growth across the travel businesses
Work underway to design and build the next generation of Saga cruise ship, for delivery in 2019
Other:
Increase in number of active customers, supported by further growth in Saga database
Saga Investment Services successfully launched and growing through tax year-end
Sale of Allied Healthcare completed
