Standard Life to share out £302m windfall EDINBURGH-based insurance giant Standard Life today said its shareholders would get a £302 million windfall as it announced a massive increase in annual profits to £900m. Plans for the windfall, which were revealed at the weekend by Scotland on Sunday, came as Standard Life posted an operating profit up from £544 in 2011 and well above analysts" forecasts of £853m. The increase after strong growth in its home market saw operating profits soar by a better-than-expected 65 per cent. As a result, Britain's fifth-biggest insurer will pay a special dividend of 12.8 pence per share, on top of a regular payout of 14.7 pence, up 6.5 per cent. The improvement was driven by the core British division, where operating profit rose 58 per cent. "Standard Life has delivered a substantial increase in profitability and has a strong capital position supporting increased dividends to our shareholders," chief executive David Nish said in a statement. The company, which was ahead of its main rivals when it began phasing out commission payments to middlemen in 2006, is seen as one of the main beneficiaries of British regulatory changes that ban such payments. The pensions specialist is also expected to gain from new rules which automatically enrol workers into company retirement schemes. Standard Life shares have risen 60 per cent in the past year, beating a 20 per cent gain for the European insurance sector as a whole. The stock closed at 375 pence last night valuing the company at about £8.6 billion. And further good news is expected today for John Lewis and Waitrose staff who seem set for annual pay bonuses worth 15 per cent of their salaries as the retail chain marks a return to profits growth. John Lewis Partnership - which has outlets at the St James Centre in the city centre, Morningside and Stockbridge - is owned by its 84,700 employees. It cut its staff bonus from 18 per cent to 14 per cent last year after it suffered a four per cent fall in profits to £353.8m. But it's expected they will reveal profits of around £415m today after a "bumper" Christmas, triggering a "small increase" in the percentage of salary bonus which is received by each worker - from weekend check-out assistants to chairman Charlie Mayfield. The group reported a 60 per cent surge in first half profits to £145 million at its half year, but warned in September that profit growth would be much slower in the second half. The main reason for the sales surge is attributed to the success of its online operation which saw massive increases in sales in the five week run-up to trading before Christmas.