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Highlights

  • LGEN’s operating profit increased by 5.7% to GBP 560 million in H1FY24
  • LGEN secured GBP 1.5 billion in global PRT new business through 15 deals in H1 2024
  • The company announced a 5% rise in interim dividends and a £200 million share buyback.

Legal & General Group PLC (LSE:LGEN) headquartered in London, England, is a British multinational firm that provides a variety of financial services and asset management solutions. Its offerings encompass life assurance, pensions, investment management, lifetime mortgages, and annuities.

In the first half of FY24, the company reported a notable increase in total operating profit, reaching GBP 560 million, a rise of 5.7% from the previous period. This growth was bolstered by both profitable new business ventures and a routine longevity review conducted in the latter half of 2023. During this period, 3.7% of the GBP 8.6 billion CSM pre-release was recognized as profit in H1 2024, contributing to a substantial 11% growth in CSM, which now totals GBP 8.3 billion. Additionally, the company saw a 7.5% increase in total revenue.

In terms of global PRT new business, the company secured GBP 1.5 billion through 15 deals in H1 2024. This represents a decrease from GBP 5.0 billion across 20 deals in H1 2023. Within this, UK volumes accounted for GBP 1.1 billion, while international volumes totalled GBP 0.4 billion.

Further, the company had a higher investment ratio of 104% and a higher operating profit ratio of 99.8% in FY23, versus the industry median of 9.8% and 20.4%, respectively.

Recent Business Update

On 16 August 2024, the Board of LGEN declared the appointment of Clare Bousfield as an independent non-executive director, effective 1 December 2024. Clare will join the Group Data and Technology Committee, Group Risk Committee, and Group Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee following her appointment.

Company outlook

LGEN reported a 5% increase in interim dividends per share and is moving forward with a £200 million share buyback, consistent with its newly implemented capital return framework. Despite ongoing global economic uncertainty and the risk of potential external shocks, the company remains vigilant, carefully monitoring its portfolio and concentrating on high-quality assets within its credit and office property lending sectors.

Top 10 Shareholders:

The top 10 shareholders of LGEN together account for approximately 20.96% of the company's total shareholdings. Leading the group is BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A., with  ~5.02% stake, followed by The Vanguard Group, Inc., which holds around ~3.00% of the shares. The distribution of these holdings is illustrated in the chart below.

Stock Information

Over the past month, the stock price of LGEN has increased by approximately 0.69%, but it has experienced a decline of about 3.74% over the last six months. It has a 52-week low of GBX 203.10 and a 52-week high of GBX 259.60 and is currently trading below the average of these two.

Note 1: Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Note 2: The reference data for all price data, currency, technical indicators, support, and resistance levels is 21 August 2024. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from EODHD/Others.