Broker snap: L&G results allay lingering concerns

23rd Mar 2010 12:19

The capital position at Legal & General is looking increasingly attractive and with the prospect of improved dividend payouts Panmure Gordon is happy to reiterate its 'buy' recommendation after the insurer's 'excellent results' on Tuesday morning.'We believe that these results addresses many of the concerns that have hung over L&G [Legal & General] over the past 12 months, and should help move the share price towards its 2009 year end EV [enterprise value] of 114p/share,' stated Panmure analyst Barrie Cornes.'The company has made noises concerning the possible release of reserves at the half year and year end 2010 commenting that it is too early to consider default provisioning releases. This all bodes well for investors. The impact of Solvency II remains uncertain given that it is a moving feast but L&G have commented that it thinks that the likely impact will not be as negative as it appeared only 6 months ago,' Cornes added.The broker has a target price of 99p for Legal & General.