Investec lifts dividend after solid annual results

21st May 2015 11:21

Specialist bank and asset manager group Investec reported a sharp increase in annual operating profit from remaining operations, while customer deposits and loans also climbed strongly.The FTSE 250 group said profit from its remaining businesses rose 15% to £580.7m in the 12 months to 31 March, while earnings per share goodwill, acquired intangibles and non-operating items climbed 10.2% to 47.5p.In a statement released on Thursday, Investec said third party asset under management increased 13.7% to £124.1bn, while customer deposits rose 7.3% to £22.6bn and core loans and advances grew 15.4% to £16.5bn."The group is in the best position it has been since the mid-2000s," said group chief executive Stephen Koseff."We have delivered on all the strategic initiatives set out in 2013 and can now focus on growing our three core businesses, asset management, wealth and investment and specialist banking."Investec, which sold its Australian bank, its Irish mortgage unit, and UK mortgage lender Kensington in its last financial years, said it will pay a final dividend of 11.5 pence a share, bringing the full-year dividend to 20.0p, up from 19.0p.Investec shares were up 0.64% to 633.50p at 11:58 on Thursday.