WHERE DO YOU STAND AFTER L&G’S HALF-YEAR RESULTS?
BARRIE CORNES PANMURE GORDON
“The dividend cut was anticipated. Key takeaways for us are capital strength, increased new business margins and bond default provisioning, good cash flow and Legal & General Investment Management remains core to the business. We maintain our “buy” stance.”
TONY SILVERMAN S&P EQUITY RESEARCH
“L&G will trade at a discount until reporting uncertainty is resolved in our opinion. We do not expect the very high annuity margins in the European Embedded Value reporting to persist. The upside is not enough for a positive stance and we maintain a “Hold” recommendation.”
MANOJ LADWA ETX CAPITAL
“These numbers from Legal and General indicate a company that is struggling to keep its head above water. As cashflow suffers and the company downsizes, it is likely to be only a matter of time before they go cap in hand to shareholders. But will investors be interested?”
DUNCAN HALL FINNCAP
“The dividend cut was expected and the market’s reaction was expected too. The cut throws the ball back in Aviva’s court. Every results season is always heralded by claims of how wonderfully solvent we are, but then there is a range of dividend cuts and rights issues.”