Soul Patts rewards investors despite NPAT decline

Washington H. Soul Pattinson which helped put Perpetual into play earlier this year has nonetheless reported a decline in net profit after tax, down 27.8% to $498.8 million.

The company attributed the profit decline to lower contributions from Brickworks and New Hope within its strategic portfolio.

However, the company lifted its dividend by 9.2% to 95 cents per share.

Commenting on the result, Soul Patts managing director and chief executive, Todd Barlow said the company’s strategy of long-term commitment to building value, strength in conviction when making investment decisions, and unconstrained mandate to investment where it could extract the highest quality returns had continued to deliver.

He said the company had performed well against its three key objectives of increased cash generation, portfolio growth and investment risk.

The company said net cash flow from investments increased 10.3% to $468 million, driven by increased cash generation from its Private Equity, Emerging Companies and Credit Portfolios.