The Ninety One plc Board has considered the resilience of the balance sheet. In line with the stated dividend policy, the Board has recommended a final dividend of 7.7p per share. Of this, 4.8p per share represents 50% of profit after tax prior to the recognition of non-operating items and 2.9p per share represents after-tax earnings after ensuring we have sufficient capital to meet current or expected changes in the regulatory capital requirements and investment needs, as well as a reasonable buffer to protect against fluctuations in those requirements. If approved at the AGM, the final dividend will be paid on 5 August 2022 to shareholders included on the share registers on 15 July 2022 and will result in a full-year dividend of 14.6p per share (2021: 12.6p).
There are no plans to increase the current number of shares in issue.
Other financial highlights include:
- Record earnings and assets under management ("AUM").
- Business conditions worsened in the final quarter of the reporting period.
- AUM increased 10% to £143.9 billion, average AUM increased by 16% to £138.6 billion.
- Net inflows of £5.0 billion, achieved across all asset classes, regions and client channels.
- Competitive firm-wide investment performance with three-year outperformance at 68%.
- Profit before tax increased 31% to £267.1 million. Adjusted operating profit increased 12% to £230.4 million.
- Basic earnings per share increased 34% to 22.6p and adjusted earnings per share increased 13% to 19.2p.
- Staff shareholding increased to 25.4%.
