Why Standard Life Is Up 29% This Year
LONDON -- Standard Life (ISE: SL.L) has advanced 29% to 266 pence so far during 2012, making the share one of this year's best performers in the FTSE 100 (UKX).
The financial institution, which boasts 6 million customers and looks after assets of more than 200 billion pounds, has defied the wider economic gloom with a series of resilient statements.
During March, Standard Life reported annual results that showed assets under administration up 3% and total income rising 5% to 1.579 billion pounds. However, operating profits before tax advanced 28% to 544 million pounds in part due to cost efficiencies of 45 million pounds. The dividend was raised 6% to 13.8 pence per share as well.
During April, Standard Life issued a trading statement that confirmed assets under administration had increased 4% during the first three months of the year. Chief Executive David Nish said at the time:
Inflows into our long-term savings businesses and strong performance from Standard Life Investments have helped to increase both our Group assets under administration and Standard Life Investments third-party assets to record levels, driving growth in fee based revenue while we continue to improve the efficiency of our business.
Then in August, Standard Life revealed first-half operating profits before tax had advanced 15% to 302 million pounds. Furthermore, the interim dividend was raised by 6.5% to 4.9 pence per share. The majority of progress was delivered by operations in the U.K., which Standard Life said should "continue to perform well."
Standard Life's third-quarter trading update will be published on Oct. 31, and may provide further resilient news.
More blue chip outperformers of 2012 are revealed in Neil Woodford's favorite large caps, an exclusive Fool report that names the FTSE shares the market-trouncing City investor is backing today, and the investing logic behind them.
You can discover the potential winners Woodford favors right now by downloading this free report while it remains available.
Are you looking to profit from this uncertain economy? "Ten Steps To Making A Million In The Market" is the very latest Motley Fool guide to help Britain invest. Better. We urge you to read the report today -- it's free.
Further Motley Fool investment opportunities:
The article Why Standard Life Is Up 29% This Year originally appeared on Fool.com.
Maynard does not own any share mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
