The Board will recommend to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting a final dividend of 79.0 pence (2018: 79.0 pence), which is unchanged from 2018. This will bring the total dividend for the year to 114.0 pence (2018: 114.0 pence). The final dividend will be paid on 7 May 2020 to shareholders on the register at 27 March 2020.
Other financial highlights include:
- delivered resilient results in 2019, despite the challenging market backdrop. Profit before tax and exceptional items was £701.2 million.
- made significant progress towards their strategic objectives, with strong growth in Wealth Management, Private Assets & Alternatives and Solutions businesses.
- generated total net new business of £43.4 billion, with positive net inflows across all asset classes as the first tranches of the Scottish Widows mandate were transferred to Schroders.
- Assets under management increased 23% to close at a new high of £500.2 billion, although the results were impacted by average assets being up only 2% as net inflows funded late in the year and markets only strongly rose through the fourth quarter.
