The life insurance consolidator says its M&A pipeline remains positive following the purchase of HSBC Life and move for Scottish Widows unit
Chesnara PLC (LSE:CSN), the London-listed life insurance consolidator, says it sees further scope for acquisitions after unveiling two significant deals.
Chief executive Steve Murray pointed to a positive pipeline and what he described as a strong track record of disciplined execution.
The group completed its purchase of HSBC Life (UK), its largest transaction to date, in January 2026, rebranding the business as Chesnara Life, and announced the acquisition of Scottish Widows Europe SA the following month.
The latter added approximately €1.7 billion of assets under administration and around 46,000 policies, and established a presence in Luxembourg as a base for further European consolidation.
The deals were accompanied by a £140 million equity raise and a £150 million bond issuance to support the enlarged group's capital position.
Full-year results for 2025 showed strong growth across the company's key metrics, supported by the acquisitions and what the company described as exceptional capital markets activity during the year.
Operating capital generation, a measure of the cash the business produces from its in-force policies, rose 19% to £94 million (2024: £79 million), while cash remittances to the holding company increased 30% to £58 million (2024: £45 million).
Adjusted operating profit climbed 42% to £56 million (2024: £39 million) and assets under administration grew 10% to £15 billion (2024: £14 billion).
The group's solvency coverage ratio, a regulatory measure of financial strength, improved sharply to 257%, up 54 percentage points from 203% at the end of 2024, while own funds rose 34% to £859 million.
Chesnara also completed a merger of its Dutch entities during the year, simplifying its European structure, and said UK integrations, including Chesnara Life, were progressing well.
The board is recommending a final dividend of 14.80 pence per share, a 6% increase, bringing the total dividend for 2025 to 22.50p per share.