Aberdeen shares jump 9% but wider market dips

Aberdeen Asset Management saw its shares jump 9% in trading this morning after the group reported a huge hike in its dividend.

Reporting interim results, the group said revenue rose by 25% to £516m, with underlying pre-tax profit up 37% at £223m. That prompted a 36% increase in its interim dividend, to 6p per share, as assets under management rose 13% to £212.3bn on the period. As a result, shares in Aberdeen rocketed to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board, up as much as 10% at one point to hit a high of 456.1p. By 10:30am shares were up 8.6% at 453p. Despite the impressive gains from the asset manager, the wider market was flat, with the FTSE 100 off three points at 6,423.