The Lemon Fool

Standard Life continues to produce the goods:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/standard-l ... 00107418X/

Unbroken 10 year track record of progressive dividends with full year dividend per share up 8.0% to 19.82p

And from later on:

Proposed dividend

The Board is recommending a final dividend for 2016 of 13.35p per ordinary share which is an increase of 8.2% on last year's final dividend. Subject to shareholder approval, this will be paid on 23 May 2017 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 18 April 2017.

The dividend payment which is expected to be GBP262m is strongly supported by underlying cash generation. At 31 December 2016 Standard Life plc held GBP0.9bn of cash and liquid resources and GBP1.6bn of distributable reserves.

The final dividend, combined with the 2016 interim dividend of 6.47p, brings the total dividend for the year to 19.82p - an increase of 8.0% on the 2015 full year dividend.

18th April is a Tuesday. I would normally expect record date to be a Friday - i.e. ex-div on a Thursday. Is this a mistake, or is there a reason for it?

StepOne wrote:18th April is a Tuesday. I would normally expect record date to be a Friday - i.e. ex-div on a Thursday. Is this a mistake, or is there a reason for it?

Easter and its associated bank holidays of Good Friday and Easter Monday. The ex-dividend date is a Thursday as usual (April 13th); the record date is the following business day, but because of the bank holidays, that's Tuesday April 18th rather than Friday April 14th.

Gengulphus

StepOne wrote:18th April is a Tuesday. I would normally expect record date to be a Friday - i.e. ex-div on a Thursday. Is this a mistake, or is there a reason for it?

I find it amazing that anyone would be bothered about the ex div date. The dividend will come in due course.

I do not hold Standard Life, having a well entrenched position in Legal & General but if I can find the opportunity, I might just buy. These are good results and the yield of around 4.8% is about the same as L & G. It is a bit earlier in its development than L & G but it looks good. Same logic as holding the two tobaccos.

Dod

Yep, There's only one important date ... the one when the money arrives in my (wife's) account!

Dod - why not Aviva in preference to SL, any views ?

Dod1010 wrote:I find it amazing that anyone would be bothered about the ex div date. The dividend will come in due course.
Dod

The ex-dividend date can be useful for a number of reasons. If you wonder why a stock's price has suddenly dropped one day then going ex-dividend can sometimes be the reason. If you're trying to work out if you're entitled to a dividend for a stock you've recently sold or bought then it is useful. As I have unfortunately recently found out the ex-dividend date is quite important when you are applying for probate as dividends not yet paid but that have gone "ex" are part of the estate.

Lots of reasons to note it down in my book.

fisher wrote:If you wonder why a stock's price has suddenly dropped one day then going ex-dividend can sometimes be the reason.

Yup, I think I started recording them because I was noticing price dips on a Thursday, and having to go and hunt down the ex-divi date to see if that was the reason. Now, I just record them all, along with the payment date, when they are announced, so it's easy for me to see if that is the reason for the drop.

So now, because I now have a column in my spreadsheet for the ex-divi date, I feel a strange compulsion to fill it in correctly. I realise this is a psychological issue, but I just have to live with it!

And, to Gengulphus - thanks for the reason - Easter - I should have figured it out!

StepOne

Share price fluctuations? It's all down to "HYP think!"

(I can see the thoughts behind knowing the XD date for probate as an executor of a will - good point.)

monabri wrote:Yep, There's only one important date ... the one when the money arrives in my (wife's) account!

Dod - why not Aviva in preference to SL, any views ?

I have written about Aviva before. Maybe just maybe, it is now getting its act together but it does not have a very good record as far as its dividend is concerned and has always been accident prone. Like RSA (which of course has not written any life insurance for a long while) it has a long history as an amalgum of lots of individual companies and as a result has a lot of baggage. In contrast, Standard Life is fairly 'clean' having been a very well run mutual life insurer for many years, until starting a new life as a quoted life insurer. Since then it has been 'derisking' in the jargon. meaning essentially becoming less of a risk bearing insurer and more of a fund manager, thus getting much less volatile fee income.

I therefore see no contest between Aviva and Standard Life. My concern is between SL and L & G. I have held L & G for many years, long before SL was even quoted.

But please DYOR!

And sorry. I am not much of a record keeper and if I need to know an ex div date I can always look it up. I do not get hung up on it.

Dod

Dod1010 wrote:

I therefore see no contest between Aviva and Standard Life. My concern is between SL and L & G. I have held L & G for many years, long before SL was even quoted.

But please DYOR!
Dod

My bold above. I have overcome that concern for me by holding both (SL since demutualisation). Combined they form just under 10% of my HYP. Standard Life is at median weight and L&G at 1.5x median in a hyp somewhat heavy on financials. I am not worried about that while they continue dividend increases of the order they are currently producing and am even considering topping up SL a bit when some new funds arrive shortly.

Ian

Ian

When I say 'concern' I do not mean I am worried it is more an interest and I think you are right to hold both. I think both are in the First Division (or Premier League if you like) whereas Aviva is one league down.

Dod

Interestingly, Luni always trashed Aviva, whereas Pyad held it up highly as a value share, I believe. I'm not sure the value has ever been outed - I'm still waiting, the price still being 30% down on when I bought it in 2007.
A long wait for a self-healer, but much better than Lloyds.

SL and LGen have both been happier for me, both about equal on XIRR terms. (I quote XIRR rather than income as it's more readily checkable)

Arb.