Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN), today announced full year results 2018
Financial highlights2
· OPERATING PROFIT1 OF £1,902M, UP 10% (2017: £1,723M)
· EARNINGS PER SHARE3 OF 24.74P, UP 7% (2017: 23.10P) – impacted by reductions in asset markets
· RETURN ON EQUITY AT 22.7% (2017: 25.6%)
· FULL YEAR DIVIDEND UP 7% TO 16.42P PER SHARE (2017: 15.35P)
· PROFIT AFTER TAX4 DOWN 3% TO £1,827M (2017: £1,891M) – prior year one-off US tax benefit of £246m
· SOLVENCY II COVERAGE RATIO5 OF 188% (2017: 189%)
· SOLVENCY II OPERATIONAL SURPLUS GENERATION UP BY 14% TO £1.4BN (2017: £1.3BN)
Business highlights
Investing & Annuities
· LGR PENSION RISK TRANSFER SALES6 OF £9.1BN (2017: £3.9BN)
· LGR INDIVIDUAL ANNUITY SALES UP 18% TO £795M (2017: £671M)
· LGR LIFETIME MORTGAGE ADVANCES UP 19% TO £1.2BN (2017: £1.0BN)
· GROUP-WIDE DIRECT INVESTMENT UP 34% AT £19.2BN (2017: £14.4BN)
Investment Management
· LGIM AUM UP 3% AT £1,015BN (2017: £983BN)
· LGIM EXTERNAL NET FLOWS OF £42.6BN (2017: £43.5BN)
Insurance
· LGI TOTAL GWP UP 3% TO £2,615M7 (2017: £2,531M8), INCLUDING US GWP OF $1,299M (2017: $1,254M)
· GENERAL INSURANCE GWP UP 11% TO £410M (2017: £369M)
“Legal & General’s consistent strategy, market leading businesses, balance sheet strength and high quality people have enabled us to deliver eight years of compound annual profit growth of over ten percent. 2018 saw political uncertainty, asset market declines and slowing economic growth, but we are resilient and performed strongly. We became the UK’s first £1 trillion investment manager, executed a record £9 billion of pension risk transfer deals and invested billions in the UK’s future infrastructure and cities. Abroad, we grew US protection new business annual premiums by 12% and increased international assets by 13% to £258bn.
Excluding our £433m positive mortality release, operating profit was up 10% to £1.9bn and we had EPS growth of 7%, DPS growth of 7%, book value growth of 13% and an RoE of 23%. We are a globally trusted brand. Our strategy positions us well despite the broader environment, our current trading is strong and we expect this momentum to continue in 2019.”
Nigel Wilson, Group Chief Executive
