OneSavings Bank PLC (LON:OSB) has announced that it will cancel the payment of its final dividend for 2019 amid the coronavirus crisis.
The payout would have been 11.2p per share, amounting to a saving of £49.9mln, and was scheduled for payment on May 13.
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in a statement, the specialist mortgage lender said it will continue to assess its dividend policy.
In a note to clients, analysts at Shore Capital commented that it was a “moral decision” at a time of “unprecedented difficulty for the UK economy”.
“We do not believe that this decision was taken for purely financial reasons, noting the balance sheet is well capitalised, with strong liquidity and good access to funding via both retail deposits and the Bank of England’s updated Term Funding Scheme,” they added.
OneSavings shares dropped 3% to 184.1p on Friday at the opening bell.