Saints' divi goes marching on

THE £400 million Scottish American Investment Company (Saints) has hiked its dividend for the 23rd year in a row despite lower bond yields eating into revenues.

Saints - which is run by Edinburgh-based investment manager Baillie Gifford - has proposed a final shareholder payout of 2.35p, taking the total dividend to 9.25p, up from 9.05p in 2009.

Revenues fell from 17.2m in 2009 to 16.4m following a drop in bond income, with earnings per share dropping from 9.05p to 8.51p.

Although the dividend is not covered by earnings, Saints - managed by Patrick Edwardson - said it would cover the rise in payout using its "substantial" reserves.

Chairman Sir Brian Ivory said that Saints had "participated fully" in last year's stockmarket rally, benefiting from rising profits and dividends at the companies in which it holds shares.

He added: "We think the year ahead will be one of further China-led growth in the world economy. We also expect the corporate sector to show good growth in profits, which should allow the companies in which we invest to raise dividends.

"However, significant economic risks persist including imbalances in world trade, rising inflation and high debt levels in some of the mature economies.

"We therefore start this new financial year with a slightly more cautious outlook than last year."