Legal and General Posts 15 Percent Profit Rise

Legal & General, the U.K.’s 3rd largest life and pensions group, posted a 15 percent increase in pretax operating profits to £479 million ($692 million) for the year 2000, substantially above analysts’ forecasts.

Facing heavy competition from its two larger rivals, CGNU and Prudential (U.K.), L&G has aggressively pursued growth through cooperation agreements with U.K. banks, making deals with Alliance & Leicester and Barclays. It’s also sought to expand its operations outside its core U.K. market, and saw this sector increase 10 percent last year.

The October and November storms, which caused heavy losses to other U.K. insurers, notably CGNU, had only a marginal impact on life insurer L&G.

Topics Profit Loss