Healthy bonus

THE Federal Government-owned healthcare provider Medibank Private looks set to hand over another $300 million special dividend to its major shareholder in 2012-13. It will be the second such payment in three years, and comes at a time when the Government has promised to bring the Budget back to surplus despite declining revenues, an uncertain global economy and falling commodity prices. Medibank’s managing director George Savvides confirmed the board was considering a special dividend drawn from capital reserves, but said it would remain comfortably above its prudential requirement.