Financial highlights1
· Operating profit of £1,005m, up 11% (H1 2018: £909m)
· Earnings per share of 14.74p, up 13% (H1 2018: 13.00p)
· Return on equity at 20.2% (H1 2018: 20.3%)
· Interim dividend2 of 4.93p per share (H1 2018: 4.60p)
· Profit after tax3 up 13% to £874m (H1 2018: £771m)
· Net release from continuing operations up 29% to £858m (H1 2018: £663m)
· Solvency II operational surplus generation up by 17% to £0.8bn (H1 2018: £0.7bn)
· Solvency II coverage ratio4 of 171% (FY 2018: 188%), impacted by discounting the balance sheet at lower interest rates
And later;
Ex dividend date (2019 interim dividend)
15 August 2019
Record date
16 August 2019
Last day for DRIP elections
5 September 2019
Payment date of 2019 interim dividend
26 September 2019
https://www.investegate.co.uk/legal---3 ... 00041618I/