Investors Chronicle Dividend of the week 30/07/2013
Investors Chronicle – Dividend of the week 30/07/2013
Recent articles for private investors with a focus on dividend announcements
Inchcape increases 2013 interim dividend 43% and announces share buyback
Operational and strategic highlights:
RSA Insurance slashes 2013 interim dividend by 33%
RSA DELIVERS 24% EARNINGS GROWTH TO £190M, AND COMBINED RATIO OF 94.2%
Foreign and colonial Investment Trust increases dividend for 43rd year in a row
SUMMARY OF UNAUDITED RESULTS FOR THE HALF YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2013
UBM maintains 2013 Interim dividend at 6.7p
David Levin, UBM's Chief Executive Officer, commented:"As highlighted at the IMS in April, challenging market conditions,particularly in the UK construction sector, meant we had a tough first quarter.A good second quarter substantially offset the Q1 performance, thanks in largepart to healthy growth at our shows in China. With continued strong forwardbooking trends for our H2 Emerging Markets events we feel confident about thesecond half."During the first half we completed the Delta disposal and accelerated therestructuring of Marketing Services. We are aligning Marketing Services moreclosely with our events and focusing it on more profitable, community-basedbusiness models which take advantage of our strengths in high quality contentand audience reach. We're already seeing improved profitability, albeit onlower revenues. We expect this restructuring programme to be substantiallycomplete by the end of the year."These steps underline our determination to focus UBM's business on deliveringfaster growth and higher quality of earnings, as evidenced by our strong cashflow performance in the first half. We look forward, with confidence, to thesecond half of the year and beyond as UBM continues to develop as an events-ledmarketing services and communications business. "
Laird increases 2013 interim dividend by 21%
Positioned for a strong H2, investing in the future and good level of cash conversion
Astra Zeneca maintains 2013 interim dividend at 90 cents
Revenue in the second quarter declined by 4 percent at constant exchange rates (CER), as the impact from products with recent loss of exclusivity has moderated from the levels experienced in recent quarters. Revenue for the rest of the portfolio was up 4 percent, fuelled by a double-digit increase from the five growth platforms. The pipeline was further strengthened by the addition of three promising late-stage assets in core therapeutic areas of cardiovascular/metabolism and respiratory diseases.
Royal Dutch Shell increases 2013 Q2 dividend by 5%
Royal Dutch Shell's second quarter 2013 earnings, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis (see Note 1), were $2.4 billion compared with $6.0 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Second quarter 2013 earnings included an identified net charge of $2.2 billion after tax, mainly reflecting impairments (see page 6). * Second quarter 2013 CCS earnings excluding identified items (see page 6), were $4.6 billion and included a combined negative impact of $0.7 billion after tax related to the impact of the weakening Australian dollar on a deferred tax liability and the impact of the deteriorating operating environment in Nigeria. Compared to the second quarter 2012, CCS earnings excluding identified items were also impacted by higher operating expenses and depreciation as well as increased exploration well write-offs. Second quarter 2012 CCS earnings excluding identified items were $5.7 billion. * Basic CCS earnings per share excluding identified items decreased by 21% versus the same quarter a year ago. * Cash flow from operating activities for the second quarter 2013 was $12.4 billion, compared with $13.3 billion in the same quarter last year. Excluding working capital movements, cash flow from operating activities for the second quarter 2013 was $8.4 billion, compared with $9.5 billion in the second quarter 2012. * Capital investment for the second quarter 2013 was $11.3 billion. Net capital investment (see Note 1) for the quarter was $10.9 billion. * Total dividends distributed in the quarter were $2.8 billion, of which some $0.8 billion were settled under the Scrip Dividend Programme. During the second quarter some 56.2 million shares were bought back for cancellation for a consideration of $1.9 billion. * Gearing at the end of the second quarter 2013 was 10.3% (see Note 2). * A second quarter 2013 dividend has been announced of $0.45 per ordinary share and $0.90 per American Depositary Share ("ADS"), an increase of 5% compared with the second quarter 2012.
Dignity drops 2013 Interim dividend in lieu of return of cash to shareholders
Dignity plc (Dignity or the Group), the UK's only listed provider of funeral related services, announces its unaudited interim results for the 26 week period ended 28 June 2013.
Rightmove increases 2013 interim dividend by 22%
Financial and Operational Highlights for the six months ended 30 June 2013
Devro increases 2013 interim dividend by 1.9%
Financial highlights
2013
Unaudited
2012
Restated*
Unaudited
Revenue
£118.9m
£115.4m
+3.1%
Operating profit
£17.9m
£20.5m
-12.8%
Profit before tax excluding net interest on pensions
£17.3m
£19.9m
-13.1%
Basic earnings per share excluding net interest on pensions
8.7p
9.7p
-10.3%
Interim dividend (per share)
2.70p
2.65p
+1.9%
Diageo increases 2013 final Dividend by 9%
Net sales growth of 5%, driven by 4 percentage points of positive price/mix
British American Tobacco increases 2013 Interim Dividend by 7%
HALF YEAR HIGHLIGHTS
•
Group revenue was up by 2% and up by 4% at constant rates of exchange, mainly as a result of continuing good pricing momentum. Exchange rate movements adversely impacted three of the Group’s four regions.
•
Adjusted Group profit from operations increased by 4% and by 6% at constant rates of exchange.
•
The reported profit from operations was 3% higher at £2,807 million.
•
Group cigarette volume was 332 billion, a decline of 3.4%. Total tobacco volume (including cigarettes) was 3.2% lower. This performance was achieved against a total industry decline, a demanding one-off comparator and the leap year impact. Underlying cigarette volume decline was 2%.
•
The Group’s cigarette market share continued to increase in its Top 40 markets, led by good market share growth of the Global Drive Brands, which grew volume by 2.3%.
•
Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose by 8% to 109.1p, principally as a result of the growth in profit from operations. At constant rates of exchange, it was up by 10%.
•
Basic earnings per share were up by 9% at 106.6p (2012: 97.8p).
•
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 45.0p, a 7% increase on last year, to be paid on 30 September 2013.
Millenium & Copthorne maintain 2013 interim dividend at 2.08
Revenue is down £4.8m in the first half of 2013 year-on-year. This is due to a combination of factors affecting performance in the first two quarters of this year:
Capital & Counties maintains 2013 interim dividend at 0.5p
INTERIM REPORT FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 June 2013
ITV increases its 2013 interim dividend by 38%
ITV delivers strong growth and continues to rebalance
BP holds 2013 Q2 dividend at 9 cents
Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said: "The results show strong underlying pre-tax performance from BP's businesses. We are seeing growth in production from new high-margin projects and are making good progress in exploration and project delivery. Completion of our operational milestones confirms our confidence in delivering our commitment to materially increase operating cash flow in 2014."
Drax reduces 2013 interim dividend by 40%
Six months ended 30 June
2013
2012
Key financial performance measures
EBITDA (£ million) (1)
120
154
Underlying earnings per share (pence) (2)
17.3
28.9
Interim dividend (pence per share) (3)
8.7
14.4
Statutory accounting measures
Profit before tax (£ million)
206
141
Reported basic earnings per share (pence)
41
33
6301-6350 of 7817
