Legal & General notches ‘double digit’ cash and capital growth in 2022
Mortgage and pension provider Legal & General said today it has seen “double digit” growth in cash and capital generation for the first half of the year after a strong performance across its divisions.
The FTSE-100 financial services giant doubled down on its guidance for the full year and said it was on track to post £1.8bn of capital generation for the year as a whole.
Group chief Sir Nigel Wilson said in a statement it had been a strong year for the firm so far.
“Our year-to-date operating performance is in line with expectations, with cash and capital generation running slightly ahead of our five-year ambition and ROE at c20 per cent,” he said.
“This reflects the strong execution of our stated strategy – which is closely aligned to long-term structural growth drivers such as ageing demographics, investing in the real economy, and addressing climate change – both in the UK and, more recently, in the US.”
Wilson said the group’s exposure to inflation was “minimal” and its balance sheet remained “strong”.
Performance was buoyed by the group’s retirement division notching £4.5bn of global transfers to 30 June, up from £3.1bn in the first half of the year in 2021, with a series of bumper buy-ins including a £370m agreement with Heathrow’s British Airports Authority (BAA) Pension Scheme for more than 1,400 retirees and a £225m buy-in with Newell Rubbermaid UK Pension scheme.
Legal & General Capital, the group’s alternative asset origination platform, said it continues to “perform strongly” and expects to deliver on its 2025 ambitions of £600-700m profits and fee-generating third party capital of £25-30bn.
The investment management division meanwhile has notched net flows of over £50bn in the first six months of the year, the firm said.
Shares in L&G were among the fastest risers in the FTSE 100 this morning, rising 3.43 per cent.