Legal & General reports pre-tax profits of £1.2bn
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Legal & General made a pre-tax profit of £1.2bn in 2009, compared to a £2.2bn loss in the previous year, while revenues were £43.8bn, up from negative revenue of £31.6bn the year before.
Its International Financial Reporting Standards operating profit rose 87% to £1.1bn.
It also reported success in cost reduction, reducing annual expenses by £69m, against a target of £50m.
This has resulted in its final dividend rising by 33% to 2.73p per share.
Tim Breedon, group chief executive of L&G, says: ““IFRS operating profit of £1.1 billion is considerably higher this year and the balance sheet has been further strengthened with an IGD surplus of £3.1 billion after accruing for an increased final dividend of 2.73 pence per share.
“This increased dividend reflects underlying growth in net cash and the Board’s confidence in its sustainability over the medium term.
“Today’s results demonstrate the significant progress we continue to make in transforming the Group into a lower cost, capital efficient, cash generative business. This focus has helped us to exceed our full year target for net cash generation by nearly £250 million in 2009.
“In difficult markets, sales were down 7% in 2009 but each of our businesses delivered higher profits and generated more cash than in 2008.
“We expect modest growth in the UK economy in 2010. However, UK Risk and Savings markets which were depressed in 2009 are expected to rebound.
“These results show that Legal & General is in excellent health and is ideally placed to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge in a financial services sector which is undergoing rapid change.”
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