Liberty Shares Climb After Special Dividend, Profit Increase
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Liberty Holdings Ltd., the insurer controlled by Standard Bank Group Ltd., climbed in Johannesburg trading after announcing a special dividend and posting a 42 percent jump in full-year profit.
The insurer will pay a special dividend of 1.30 rand a share after net income rose to 3.78 billion rand ($421 million) from 2.67 billion rand in 2011, the Johannesburg-based company said today in a statement. Earnings per share excluding one-time items increased to 14.37 rand, beating the 12.63-rand median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.