Insurance provider Standard Life has unveiled a windfall dividend worth 302m pounds after delivering substantial growth in profits underpinned by strong performance in the UK.

Operating profit before tax rose 65% to £900m last year at the FTSE 100-listed financial services group driven by a significant improvement in UK performance, continuing growth in Standard Life Investments and management actions in Canada.

The strong capital position supported a decision to provide a special dividend of 12.80p, worth £302m altogether.

The group reported that fee-based revenue increased to £1.3bn from £1.2bn a year earlier and group assets under administration expanded to £218.1bn from £198.4bn in 2011.

The final dividend rose 6.5% to 9.80p, making a total of 14.70p for the year, up from 13.90p in 2011.

David Nish, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Life, commented: "Standard Life has delivered a substantial increase in profitability and has a strong capital position supporting increased dividends for our shareholders."

He added: "In Standard Life Investments we have one of the world's leading asset managers whose reach and scale is increasingly global. Canada is performing well under its new management team. In Asia we are building exciting businesses in our chosen markets which are full of potential, opening branches in Singapore and Dubai. Our Indian businesses go from strength to strength."

Standard Life's share price was up 2.24% to 382.60p at 08:19 on Thursday.

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