M&G PLC (LSE:MNG) said it is moving to a progressive dividend policy, starting with a 2% increase to this year's total dividend per share, as CEO Andrea Rossi's transformation plan continued to bear fruit.
On an underlying basis, the life insurer reported an adjusted operating profit before tax of £837 million for 2024, up 5% year-on-year, as profits from its asset management business rose 19% and a flat contribution from the life business.
But on a statutory basis, the FTSE 100 group swung to a loss after tax of £347 million from a £309 million profit last time, which reflected larger losses from fluctuations in investment returns and "mismatches" in IFRS 17 accounting rules, even though restructuring costs were lower than the previous year.
Rossi said "meaningful progress" had been made on business strategy: reducing debt, simplifying the operating model, growing asset management profits and seeing "positive momentum" in life with £0.9 billion of bulk purchase annuity deals completed.
"We are now moving into a new phase for the group, where we will deliver sustainable and diversified growth across Asset Management and Life."
In line with this ambition, he announced two new targets for 2025-2027: to grow adjusted operating profit before tax on average by 5% or more per year and to generate £2.7 billion of operating capital.
A second interim dividend of 13.5p per share was declared, taking the total dividend for the year to 20.1p.