Close Brothers Group plc has declared an interim dividend of 22.0p (H1 2021: 18.0p), returning to the pre-pandemic level. The interim dividend is due to be paid on 27 April 2022 to shareholders on the register at 25 March 2022.
Other financial highlights include:
Group statutory operating profit increased 1% to £128.9 million, with adjusted operating profit also up 1% to £129.8 million, reflecting 12% income growth in Banking and 14% in Asset Management, offset by a reduction in trading income in Winterflood
The annualised bad debt ratio of 1.1% (H1 2021: 1.3%) primarily reflected the impact of updated loss rate assumptions for the Novitas loan book. Excluding Novitas, the annualised bad debt ratio was 0.2% (H1 2021: 0.7%), reflecting the benefit of provision releases and strong underlying credit performance across our business
The Asset Management division saw positive momentum, generating annualised net inflows of 8%, with adjusted operating profit up 18% to £14.5 million
Common equity tier 1 ("CET1") capital ratio was 15.1% (31 July 2021: 15.8%)
Return on opening equity ("RoE") of 12.2% (H1 2021: 13.2%)
