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Chesnara raises dividend as cash position stays steady during pandemic

Published: 17:11 28 Sep 2020 AEST

Chesnara PLC -

Chesnara PLC (LON:CSN) again raised its dividend as cash reserves and its solvency position were largely unchanged in the half-year to end June.

The life and pensions group said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic had affected its results through falls in equity markets, lower interest rates and reduced new business activity.

As a consequence, statutory results showed a loss of £9.1mln (£66.6m profit) and economic value declined to £604mln (£670mln) though cash generated over the period was £12.9mln, which Chesnara described as a relatively reassuring outcome. 

The company’s solvency ratio, its surplus over liabilities, also rose to 166% compared to 155% at the end of September.

John Deane, chief executive said: "The impact of the global pandemic on investment market performance has had an inevitable effect on the results during the first half of 2020. 

“Against the backdrop of equity market falls and further reductions in interest rates I am pleased to report that even after paying the 2019 final dividend, Chesnara's cash reserves and solvency surplus remain largely unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic position.

 “It is this robustness of solvency and cash that supported the payment of a record 2019 final dividend, and it enables us to increase the interim dividend by 3%.”

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