Standard Life Aberdeen confirm merger – Finance Friday

Finance Friday – a brief look at this week’s finance and investor news from around the UK

Standard Life Aberdeen

Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management completed their merger on the 14th August. Standard Life’s first half operating profit before tax rose 6% to £362m with underlying cash generation up 1% to £256m. The interim dividend rose 8.2% to 7p per share. The shares fell 1.6% following the announcement.

Prudential

Half Year operating profits rose 5% at constant exchange rates (CER) to £2.4bn. Performance was driven by results from the Asian and US businesses, partially offset by slower growth in the UK. The group announced an interim dividend of 14.5p per share, up 12%. The shares were broadly flat following the announcement.

Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty reported an underlying operating profit of £39m for the first half (2016: £11m). The interim dividend rose 33% to 1.2p per share. The shares rose 4.5% following the announcement.

Glencore

An improved commodity price environment helped Glencore’s first half revenues rise 44% to $100bn. Combined with better cost control, this saw the group deliver earnings per share of $0.17 in the half, compared to a loss of $0.03 the previous year. The shares fell 2.8% following the announcement.

Tritax

Pre-tax profit rose 50% to £80.5m, however following the £350m share issuance in May, adjusted earnings per share rose 1.6% to 3.21p. The group declared two 1.6p interim dividends in the period, and says it remains on course to deliver the 6.4p full year target. The shares were little moved on the news.