Old Mutual Declares Special Dividend; 1st Half Earnings Rose Slightly

By Adam Clark

Old Mutual Ltd. (OMU.LN) said Friday that it will pay a special dividend, after reporting a slight increase in first-half profit amid tough market conditions in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The African financial-services company said its adjusted headline earnings--which strip out certain exceptional items--rose 1% to 5.39 billion rand ($367.0 million) from the year-earlier half.

The company said it delivered the profit growth despite a weak economic environment in South Africa, and political uncertainty in Zimbabwe.

Old Mutual's net profit rose 42% to ZAR10.65 billion, driven by an exceptional accounting gain from the sale and distribution of shares in U.K. wealth-management business Quilter PLC (QLT.LN) in June.

The company declared a special dividend of 100 South African cents a share from excess capital. This comes on top of a normal interim dividend of 45 South African cents a share, representing 40% of adjusted headline earnings a share.

Old Mutual said its total funds under management rose 2% to ZAR1.1 trillion as of June 30, driven by net client cash flows of ZAR9.4 billion. Life-insurance sales, as measured by annual premium equivalent, rose 13% to ZAR5.81 billion.

Write to Adam Clark at [e-mail]; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2018 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)

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