LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - British insurer and asset managerStandard Life on Tuesday posted a 7 percent rise infirst-half assets under administration, as market gains helpedto offset outflows from some of its investment funds.
Total assets were 328 billion pounds ($425.88 billion), upfrom 307.4 billion pounds at December 31.
This growth exceeded a 313.9 billion pound consensusforecast of 16 analysts provided by the company and helped thefirm's underlying operating performance rise 14 percent over theperiod.
Operating pretax profits rose 18 percent to 341 millionpounds, underpinning a 7.5 percent increase in its interimdividend to 6.47 pence a share.
($1 = 0.7702 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Sinead Cruise)