Legal & General Group PLC (LSE:LGEN) shares fell despite the life insurer reporting first-half profits ahead of expectations and nudging its interim dividend up 2% as it shared the fruits of a boom in pension risk transfers (PRTs).
The FTSE 100 group reported a 6% rise in core operating profit at £859 million for the first half of 2025, ahead of analyst expectations.
Core operating earnings per share climbed 9% to 10.94p, which was the top end of its targeted 6-9% range.
Its Solvency II capital generation was £729 million, up 3%, with a coverage ratio of 217%.
Shares in L&G fell 2%, with analysts pointing to a drag from net profit headwinds, with profit after tax 57% below estimates, and shareholder equity 25% below forecast, despite strong operating profit and surplus generation.
CEO António Simões hailed an "excellent six months", with new business volumes strong across divisions.
Institutional retirement wrote £5.2 billion in global PRT business, annuity buy-ins, in other words.
In Asset Management, £15 million in annualised net new revenue helped lift the average revenue margin, while retail workplace net flows rose 21% to £4 billion, and workplace assets under administration reached £101 billion, up 7% from year-end.
Strategically, L&G completed the acquisition of Proprium Capital Partners and announced a new partnership with Blackstone. The disposal of the US protection business and expansion of the partnership with Meiji Yasuda remain on track.
"The outlook for our businesses is positive and we are firmly on track to achieve our financial targets," said Simões. "We are delivering on our promise to return more to shareholders with over £5 billion in dividends and share buybacks over three years."
The company declared an interim dividend of 6.12p per share, up 2%, and confirmed that 90% of the £500 million share buyback announced at the full year has been completed.
** Update: broker analysts added **