Dividend
Our underlying business performance and confidence in the medium term outlook have enabled the Board to propose a 2016 final dividend of 67.52p per share, supported by bus division profitability. Combined with the interim dividend of 28.33p per share, the proposed total dividend will be 95.85p per share, an increase of 6.5%. The final dividend will be paid on 25 November 2016 to all shareholders on the register at close of business on 11 November 2016.
Your Board has a clear capital allocation policy for the Group which is continually under review. We consider our policy for capital structure and how surplus cash is to be deployed between ongoing operations, investment in new franchises and new businesses, ongoing dividends to shareholders and possible further returns to shareholders. Our objective is to retain an efficient capital structure, whilst maintaining financial flexibility in the event of downside scenarios or new investment opportunities, and to provide additional returns to shareholders where it is prudent to do so.
