'Confident' Jupiter hikes dividend by 13%

Jupiter Fund Management has announced a 13% increase in its total dividend for 2012, ahead of analyst expectations, as the group continues to strengthen its balance sheet.

Reporting full-year earnings for 2012, Jupiter said its continued cash generation had enabled it to reduce gross debt to £78m, with an "increasingly robust" balance sheet now showing a net cash position of £69m at year-end. "This has allowed us to raise the total dividend by 13% to 8.8p, reflecting the board's confidence in the group's growth prospects," said chief executive Edward Bonham Carter (pictured). Pre-tax profits rose from £70.3m to £73.6m, though underlying pre-tax profits dipped from £118.6m to £115.3m, and underlying earnings per share fell from 19.1p to 19p due to lower ...