DIVIDENDS
The Board intends to continue with its practice of paying out earnings in full. The objective is one of long term capital growth and we will not seek to influence the Manager to determine the level of income of your Company's portfolio in any particular year.
The Board has decided to recommend a final dividend of 27.75 pence per share for the year ended 31 December 2012 (2011: 26.50 pence). This dividend will be payable on 24 May 2013 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 15 March 2013 (ex-dividend date 13 March 2013).
The proposed dividend increase for 2012 over 2011 is therefore 4.7%. Whilst we emphasise that the increase is a function of stock selection and cannot be extrapolated into the future, our Portfolio Manager, Sam Morse, continues to focus on companies which are able to grow their dividends as being one of the underlying factors in his stock selection. A further explanation of the investment process can be found in the Annual Report.
