Australia's AMP drops 14% on lower-than-expected dividend

Reuters
14 Feb
UPDATE 2-Australia's AMP drops 14% on lower-than-expected dividend

Adds share moves in paragraph 1, 2 and Citi comments in paragraph 4

By Sherin Sunny

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Australia's AMP AMP.AX declared a final dividend below expectations on Friday, but posted a 15% rise in yearly profit owing to resilience across its businesses, except in its banking division, sending shares to their lowest level in nearly three months.

The stock fell as much as 14% to A$1.505 by 0012 GMT, while the broader benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was 0.8% higher after scaling record highs. The money manager was among the top laggard on the benchmark.

The company declared a final dividend of 1 Australian cent per share, below the 2 Australian cents per share declared a year ago.

"The final dividend of 1.0cps was lower than both our forecast of 2.0 cps and Visible Alpha consensus of 2.6 cps, with AMP aiming to pay 2.0 cps per half in FY25," Citi analysts said in a note.

AMP's Superannuation & Investments business posted a 26.4% rise in its full-year underlying net profit after tax, while the New Zealand Wealth Management and Platforms divisions reported a rise of 8.8% and 18.9%, respectively.

However, AMP's banking arm, AMP Bank, which accounts for more than a quarter of the company, posted a 22.6% decline in its annual profit due to subdued volume growth and falling margins.

AMP Chief Executive Officer Alexis George said that AMP Bank showed improving trends in the second half of the year.

The company reported an underlying net profit after tax of A$236 million ($148.99 million) for the year ended December 31, compared to A$205 million a year ago.

That beat the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$229.9 million, according to UBS.

($1 = 1.5840 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sherin Sunny and Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com))

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