Royal London Group made a £762m loss after tax last year and its capital surplus shrank by some £1.1bn as a result of poor investment performance.
The poor performance is despite a 6% increas in UK life and pensions business as Scottish Life grew its presence in the income drawdown market.
On an IFRS basis, the group made a £432m loss after tax, down from a profit of £130m in 2007. Performance was worst of all on an EEV basis, making a £762m loss after tax, compared with 2007’s profit of £173m.
Royal London’s Insurance Groups Directive (IGD) capital surplus fell to £773m at the end of 2008, down from £1.9bn at the end of 2007, a £1.1bn fall. The group says £685m of this reduction is due to goodwill and assets acquired as part of its Resolution transaction not being admissible for regulatory capital.
The Resolution transaction brings the ‘Scottish Provident’ protection brand into the group as a stablemate to ‘Bright Grey’, also a protection brand and virtually a clone of the Scottish Provident business, as it was built from the ground up by the same team that built the Scottish Provident product range after they all left following the acquistition of Scottish Provident by Abbey.
Michael Cooke, protection specialist at The Insurance Helper commented that “We have worked with both brands both before and since the creation of Bright Grey and we find that they both continue to provide competitively priced life, critical illness and income protection insurance cover for UK consumers and have specialist products for businesses insuring their key staff, directors & shareholders/partners.”
For further information on the products of either brand or for a free quotation for cover contact The Insurance Helper on 0845 003 0065 or visit their website at www.theinsurancehelper.co.uk
