The Essentra Board of Directors recommend a final ordinary dividend of 1.0p per share, resulting in a total dividend for FY 2022 of 3.3p (2021: final 4.0p, total 6.0p). In 2022, the dividend has been rebased to account for the earnings of the continuing operations of the business. The Board is committed to a progressive dividend policy going forwards, maintaining dividend cover in the order of three times. The final dividend will be paid on 30 June 2023 to shareholders on the share register of the Company on 19 May 2023. The ex-dividend date will be 18 May 2023. Essentra operates a Dividend Re-Investment Programme ("DRIP"), details of which are available from the Company's Registrars, Computershare Investor Services PLC. The final date for DRIP elections will be 9 June 2023.
Other financial highlights include:
Year-end net funding surplus of £113.8m (incl. IFRS lease liabilities) after the acquisition of Wixroyd
£150m capital return announced, consisting of £90.0m special dividend (29.8p per share) and £60.0m share buyback