Stobart slashes dividend

INFRASTRUCTURE group Stobart slashed its dividend by 60pc as it plans to ramp up investments at Southend Airport.

It will pay 6p per share to investors this year, down from 15p last year, in two payouts of 3p.

Stobart wants to spend more on infrastructure at Southend so it can serve up to 10m passengers a year, though did not say when it will hit this target.

It has previously said it wants to be able to handle 5m passengers a year at the airport in Essex by 2022. Last year the airfield saw a 33pc rise in customers to 1.5m.

And it will get a boost from next month, when Ryanair will start basing three of its aircraft at Southend.

Southend Airport owes more than £151m to creditors in the next year – the bulk of it liabilities owed to Stobart.

Stobart will release its annual results on May 15 and yesterday saw its shares rise by 3.8pc, or 5.8p, to 161p.