4th Nov 2014 07:35
LONDON (Alliance News) - Legal & General Group PLC Tuesday reported a jump in net cash generation in the first nine months of the year, boosted by cash generation at the operating level.
In a statement, the savings and investments business reported GBP827 million of net cash generation in the first nine months of the year, compared with GBP740 million in the corresponding period last year. Operational cash generation rose by 8% to GBP844 million.
"We are growing our revenues, operating profit, customers and net cash and are continuing to deliver strong return on equity," Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said in a statement.
Legal & General said annuity sales increased by 5% to GBP3.9 billion in the nine-month period. Individual annuity sales, which were rocked by changes made by the UK government earlier this year that effectively put an end to the requirement on individuals to buy annuities on retirement, fell to GBP508 million from GBP1.08 billion in the corresponding nine-month period last year, but Legal & General said bulk annuity sales rose to GBP3.37 billion from GBP2.61 billion.
Legal & General has highlighted the bulk annuity market as an area in which it can grow in the wake of the UK's pensions reforms.
To date in the fourth quarter, Legal & General Retirement has has secured a further GBP800 million of bulk premium, according to Wilson, who added that the "immediate pipeline gives us high confidence" in writing around GBP8 billion in total annuity transactions for the full year, double its total annuity premium for 2013.
Total annuity transactions were GBP5.8 billion in the first nine months of the year.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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