Close Brothers Group Plc Declares an Interim Dividend of 22.5p per Share

DividendMax Ltd.

Close Brothers Group Plc Declares an Interim Dividend of 22.5p per Share

Close Brothers declares an interim dividend of 22.5p (H1 2022: 22.0p), reflecting their underlying performance and the Board's confidence in the group's outlook. The group's policy aims to provide sustainable dividend growth year-on-year, while maintaining a prudent level of dividend cover. The interim dividend is due to be paid on 26 April 2023 to shareholders on the register at 24 March 2023.

Other Financial Highlights: 

  • Steps have been taken to resolve the issues surrounding Novitas, resulting in an additional provision of £89.8 million, with the total provisions in relation to Novitas taken in H1 2023 at £114.6 million. As a result, statutory operating profit before tax decreased to £11.7 million (H1 2022: £128.9 million). Excluding Novitas, adjusted operating profit decreased to £117.5 million (H1 2022: £160.5 million)
  • Achieved 5% income growth in Banking with a net interest margin of 8.0% (H1 2022: 7.9%) and good levels of customer demand, particularly in Commercial. As a result, pre-provisions, adjusted operating profit in Banking increased 5% to £177.2 million (H1 2022: £168.5 million)
  • Although underlying credit performance remains resilient, the increased uncertainty in the economic outlook has been reflected in higher forward-looking impairment provisions and a rise in arrears in Motor Finance. As a result, the annualised bad debt ratio (excluding Novitas) was 1.1% (H1 2022: 0.2%)
  • The loan book excluding Novitas was £9.0 billion (31 July 2022: £8.9 billion), as the group remains committed to lending consistently to their customers under responsible terms in all market conditions
  • Delivered healthy net inflows of 6%, with a strong contribution from new hires, as they continued to focus on growing Close Brothers Asset Management ("CBAM")
  • Winterflood's performance continued to reflect challenging market conditions
  • Total funding increased 3% to £11.9 billion (31 July 2022: £11.6 billion), as the diversity of their funding sources helped us optimise funding costs in an environment of rapid interest rate rises
  • Common Equity Tier 1 ("CET1") ratio was 14.0% at 31 January 2023 (31 July 2022: 14.6%), significantly above the applicable minimum

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