5th Aug 2026 09:14
(Alliance News) - Legal & General Group PLC on Wednesday said it expects growth in full-year core earnings to be above the top end of its target range after a strong first half.
The London-based insurer and asset manager said pretax profit ballooned to GBP2.00 billion in the half-year ended June 30 from GBP406 million a year prior.
Core operating profit increased 6.9% to GBP918 million from GBP859 million, 3.8% ahead of company-compiled consensus of GBP884 million.
Core operating earnings per share grew 11% to 12.15 pence from 10.94p, ahead of 11.70p consensus.
For 2026 as a whole, L&G expects core operating EPS to be above the top end of its 6% to 9% target range. In 2025, L&G reported core operating EPS of 20.93p.
Operational surplus generation was GBP790 million in the period, up 3.1% from GBP766 million, ahead of GBP750 million consensus.
Solvency II coverage ratio declined more than forecast to 201% from 217% on year, compared to 206% market consensus. It remains above L&G's 160% to 190% target operating range.
Chief Executive Antonio Simoes said the highlight of the first half was the performance of the Asset Management division, with fee-related earnings increasing 37%, supported by record annualised net new revenue and a reduced cost-income ratio of 71%.
"We are on track to meet or exceed our strategic targets," he added.
Institutional Retirement operating profit increased by 5% to GBP646 million, 2% above consensus, Asset Management operating profit grew 10% to GBP222 million, 7% ahead of consensus, and Retail operating profit rose by 5% to GBP248 million, beating consensus 2%.
In response, shares in L&G were up 0.5% at 304.15 pence each in London, close to its all-time high of 310p reached in July. The wider FTSE 100 index was up 0.1%.
L&G raised the interim dividend 2.0% to 6.24p per share from 6.12p and said it is nearing the midpoint of the GBP1.2 billion share buyback programme it announced in March.
"We are on track to return more than GBP5 billion to shareholders over 2025-27. We have grown our dividend per share while improving dividend cover," L&G said.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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