Legal & General Group Plc
The U.K.-based financial services group posted full-year 2017 profit attributable to equity holders of £1.89 billion, up 50% from £1.26 billion in 2016. The result included a one-off tax benefit of £246 million arising from the revaluation of the company's net deferred tax liabilities in the U.S. following the reduction in the U.S. corporate income tax rate.
EPS for the period stood at 31.87 pence, compared to 21.22 pence a year earlier. Operating profit reached a "record" high of £2.06 billion, a 32% increase from the year-ago £1.56 billion.
Pretax profit from unit Legal & General Retirement rose year over year to £1.25 billion from £846 million, while Legal & General Investment Management achieved pretax profit of £391 million, up from £334 million in 2016. Legal & General Capital, meanwhile, generated a pretax profit attributable to equity holders of £363 million, a decrease from the year-ago £419 million.
Total gross premiums at the Legal & General Insurance division rose 5% to £2.53 billion from £2.41 billion a year earlier. Attributable pretax profit came in at £243 million, up from £173 million in 2016.
The group's Solvency II surplus at 2017-end was estimated at £6.9 billion, representing a coverage ratio of 189% on a shareholder basis, compared to a surplus of £5.7 billion and coverage ratio of 171% at the end of 2016. L&G said the sale of its mature savings business to Swiss Re for £650 million, which was announced in December 2017, is expected to boost the group's Solvency II coverage ratio by roughly 2%.
The group's board recommended a final dividend of 11.05 pence per share for 2017, up from 10.35 pence per share paid in 2016, taking the full-year 2017 dividend to 15.35 pence per share, 7% higher than the full-year 2016 dividend.
