Standard Life (SL.) delivered an impressive performance last year, with a 65 per cent increase in operating profits to £900m. The strong performance stretched right across the life assurer's two main operating regions, with operating profits from the UK business jumping 74 per cent to £382m and those from Canada up by 90 per cent to £355m. Shareholders were rewarded with a special dividend payment of 12.8p a share.
Fee-based revenue rose 5 per cent to £1.27bn, thanks to net inflows of £6.1bn, and this helped to boost group assets under administration by 10 per cent to £218bn. Acquisition expenses - the costs incurred writing new business - fell from £325m to £292m, and in the UK strong sales helped reduce costs as a proportion of sales from 144 basis points to 133 basis points.
Operating profits on a European embedded value (EEV) basis rose by 13 per cent to £1.12bn, driven primarily by a rise from £170m to £413m in profits from back book management. Group finances are in pretty good shape, too, with the surplus over minimum regulatory requirements rising from £3.1bn to £4.1bn.
Prior to these figures, Investec was forecasting operating profits for the current year of £603m and embedded value per share of 376p.
| STANDARD LIFE (SL.) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 371p | MARKET VALUE: | £8.75bn | |
| TOUCH: | 370-371p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 385p | LOW: 199p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 185p | EMBEDDED VALUE: | 343p | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Gross premiums (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 3.56 | -406 | 6.90 | 11.8 |
| 2009 | 3.30 | 410 | 7.50 | 12.2 |
| 2010 | 3.24 | 971 | 18.4 | 13.0 |
| 2011 | 3.34 | 595 | 13.0 | 13.8 |
| 2012 | 4.32 | 996 | 29.7 | 14.7* |
| % change | +29 | +67 | +128 | +7 |
Ex-div: 3 Apr Payment: 21 May *Not including a special dividend of 12.8p a share | ||||
