Alex Forbes share bonus boost

DURBAN – Alexander Forbes’s share price leapt by more than 6 percent on the JSE yesterday after the financial services group declared a special dividend of 50 cents a share for the year to end March.

However, the group said the special dividend was subject to approval by the financial surveillance department of the South African Reserve Bank.

The group’s share price increased to R4.30 after the announcement, but later in the day the share price closed at R4.20.

Alexander Forbes was cash-flunk after selling its short-term insurance business to Momentum Metropolitan Holdings last year and gained a profit of R861 million on the disposal.

The group also debunked the recent trend among the listed companies of holding a dividend payment as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.