Times Of Swaziland: OLD MUTUAL DELIVERS 8% GROWTH IN HEADLINE EARNINGS OLD MUTUAL DELIVERS 8% GROWTH IN HEADLINE EARNINGS ================================================================================ BY STANLEY KHUMALO on 12/03/2019 00:06:00 MBABANE – Old Mutual Limited (OML) headline earnings have gone up by eight per cent since the organisation’s successful primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on June 26, 2018. Old Mutual Eswatini is a subsidiary of OML. In a press release by the utility, it was announced that the Group’s headline earnings for the year ending December 31, 2018, were up by eight per cent. This means the company made E14.241 million from E13.144 million in the previous year. Delivered Old Mutual’s CEO, Peter Moyo stated that the group delivered well on its medium-term targets and commitments made to investors. “We delivered Return on Net Asset Value of 18.6 per cent which exceeds our Cost of Equity+4 per cent target, which sat at 17.4 per cent for 2018. We continue to be a highly cash generative business with E6.6 billion of free cash generated in 2018, which has more than covered our dividends to our shareholders. “Our Group capital position remains robust with a solvency ratio of 170 per cent, near the upper end of our target range. Sadly, we did not meet our Results from Operations (RFO) growth target of GDP+2 per cent. However, we are still confident that we will meet all our targets in the medium term, noting that the RFO target will be difficult given the negative growth in 2018,” said Moyo. Announced The Group also announced a final dividend of 72 cents per share, bringing its total ordinary dividend per share to 117 cents a share, in line with its dividend policy. Old Mutual also announced its intention to conduct a share buy-back programme of approximately E2 billion in 2019. Taking into account the planned share buy-back, the special dividends paid in October 2018 and the Nedbank unbundling, the total distribution to shareholders since listing will equate to nearly E52 billion. “We have managed our capital well and continue to be responsible to our shareholders in the way we deploy capital,” explained Moyo. On being on track with its strategic objectives, Moyo remarked, “I am pleased with the progress we have made against our eight Battlegrounds. “We delivered particularly good sales and Net Client Cash Flows (NCCF) in a tough economic and competitive environment. We have also improved our customer experience through digital enhancements and the delivery of key phases of our IT refresh journey. Continue “While we continue to see economic headwinds in the near term, our Group is resilient, well capitalised and managing its costs tightly.” Old Mutual is a premium African financial services group that offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across key market segments in 17 countries.