The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price was a solid performer in FY 2023.
During the 12 months, the financial services company's shares rose a sizeable 18%.
This is almost double the return of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over the same period.
Though, unfortunately for shareholders, these gains would not last for very long. The AMP share price has given back the majority of them since the start of the new financial year.
Why did the AMP share price outperform?
Investors were buying AMP shares in the last financial year thanks to a significant improvement in its performance after several years of struggles.
In February, for example, the company released its full-year results. And while the reaction that day was not overly positive, it's hard to deny that a big improvement was achieved by management.
For the 12 months, AMP reported a statutory profit after tax of $387 million. This compares to a $252 million loss a year earlier.
A key highlight for the 12 months was the AMP Bank business, which reported that its residential mortgage book grew by $2 billion during the year. The company also reduced its costs by $54 million, which was a great result in the current environment.
This ultimately allowed the AMP board to declare and pay its first dividend for two and a half years.
But the returns didn't stop there. This dividend was part of a much larger plan to return $1.1 billion of capital to shareholders. This included a now complete $350 million on-market share buyback and another on-market buyback, which remains in progress, of up to $325 million.
Shareholders will no doubt be hoping that the AMP share price finds its legs again in FY 2024 and starts heading in the right direction.
