The NWF Board has approved an interim dividend per share of 1.0p (H1 2019: 1.0p). This will be paid on 5 May 2021 to shareholders on the register as at 19 March 2021. The shares will trade ex-dividend on 18 March 2021. The Group has a progressive dividend policy and has increased the annual dividend by approximately 5% in each of the last five years.
Other financial highlights include:
• Overall trading performance in the first half in line with the Board's expectations and expectations for the full year unchanged.
• Results behind prior year, as anticipated, with the resilience of the Group demonstrated by consistent trading despite Brexit uncertainty and the ongoing challenge of Covid-19.
• The Group's financial position remains very strong, with leverage at <1.0x which provides capacity for continued investment in support of strategic initiatives, the pursuit of further acquisition opportunities in the Fuels division.
• The Group confirms that the cyber incident at the end of October has been successfully contained and has not materially impacted the trading or commercial performance of the business.
• All divisions fully operational in current lockdown, employees designated as key workers and no significant change in demand levels.
