Phoenix hikes dividend as pensions deals bolster insurer’s business
Phoenix Group today upped its dividend after posting “record” financial results for the first half of 2022.
The London insurer hiked its dividend by three per cent to heights of 24.8p a share after a series of pensions deals bolstered Phoenix’s revenues.
The pensions deals, signed off in the first half of last year, saw Phoenix double its new business revenues from £206m in the first half of 2021 to £430m in the first half of 2022.
The string of six bulk purchase annuity (BPA) deals with pensions schemes in the first half of last year accounted for the bulk of the new business in generating sums of £282m.
The FTSE 100 company’s “capital-light fee-base business” also bolstered Phoenix’s revenues in generating £148m for the London insurer – a figure 17.5 per cent higher than last year.
The doubling of Phoenix’s business revenues saw the firm report record cash generation of £950m, up nine per cent from last year.
After paying a £430m debt, the insurer saw its Solvency II reserves drop to £4.7bn, a solvency ratio of 186 per cent.
The firm also outlined plans to further increase its dividend by 2.5 per cent following the completion of its cash funded acquisition of Sun Life’s UK business.
Phoenix Group chief executive, Andy Briggs said: “Phoenix has performed very strongly in the first half of the year despite the challenging macro environment.”