15th Sep 2016 07:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Retirement products provider JRP Group PLC said Thursday it has seen synergy benefits from the merger which created the group in April, between Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance, ahead of schedule in the first half of the year.
JRP reported an International Financial Reporting Standards pretax profit of GBP226.4 million for the period to the end of June, including three months of results from Partnership Assurance. This compares to a GBP20.4 million loss for Just Retirement in the same period as a standalone company in 2015.
The two companies combined made a pro-forma pretax operating profit of GBP48.4 million in the first half of the year, up from GBP43.4 million year on year. JRP said its pro-forma margin was up to 5% from 2% for the period year on year, before the benefit of merger synergies.
Total new business sales for the combined group were up 3% to GBP948.7 million from GBP922.6 million on a pro-forma basis. JRP said this included a 17% pro-forma rise in sales of guaranteed income for life annuities to GBP397.0 million.
JRP proposed an interim dividend of 1.1p per share, to be paid in October.
JRP's Solvency II coverage ratio, a key measure of financial strength, stood at 134% at the end of June, which the company described as "comfortably capitalised". Its economic capital ratio at June 30 was 185%.
"I am pleased to announce we are ahead of schedule in delivering synergy benefits. In addition we have raised our synergy target from GBP40 million and now expect to achieve annualised savings of at least GBP45 million by the end of 2018. Our new business margin is starting to demonstrate the opportunity we have for potential further improvement as we deliver the cost synergies," said Chief Executive Rodney Cook.
"JRP Group has had a very successful start to the year. We have continued to deliver growth at the same time as we integrate our businesses and our focus remains on delivering simple to understand, good value products and services to our retail and wholesale customers," added Cook.
Shares in JRP were up 16% at 113.10 early Thursday, the best performer in the FTSE 250.
By Adam Clark; [email protected]
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