The Board continues to adopt a progressive dividend policy which is balanced with holding sufficient funds for future investment and their regulatory capital requirements. The Board has proposed a final ordinary dividend of 3.33p per share which takes the total ordinary dividend for the year to 4.83p per share, representing an increase (excluding the special dividend in the previous year) of 31% on the previous year. The final ordinary dividend will be paid, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 22 January 2020, to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 10 January 2020.
Other financial highlights include:
●Revenue up 17% to £104.9 million (FY18: £89.7 million)
●Profit before tax (PBT) up 33% to £37.7 million (FY18: £28.4 million)
●Balance sheet strengthened, with net assets increasing to £86.1 million (FY18: £64.0 million)
●Retail customers increased by 34,154 in the period, up 17% to 232,066 (FY18: 197,912)
●Customer retention rate of 95.4% (FY18: 95.1%)
●Assets under administration (AUA) up 13% during the period to £52.3 billion (FY18: £46.1 billion)
●Launch of innovative new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative to provide the opportunity for charitable causes to share in the future success of AJ Bell
