Legal & General breaks records with first-quarter results

2nd May 2013 08:09

Financial services group Legal & General (L&G) hailed record assets, sales and cash generation in the first quarter of 2013 as its UK and US businesses exceeded management's expectations.Strong flows and "positive" equity markets drove L&G Investment Management's (LGIM) assets under management up 9.0% from £406bn to £441bn in the first three months of the year. The division achieved exceptional net inflows of £5.5bn, up an impressive 113% on last year.Sales across L&G in the first quarter jumped 28% year-on-year from £434m to £555m, well above the £499m estimate. Total protection and annuities rose 56% to £162m, while savings jumped 20% to £366m.Meanwhile, operational cash generation rose from £249m to £281m, ahead of analysts' forecasts for £282m, "reflecting the continuing growth in scale of all of our businesses"."Legal & General has shown it can perform strongly, delivering cash, earnings and dividend growth across the economic cycle. The outlook for the business is strong, and will improve through broader economic growth and further international expansion," said Chief Executive Nigel Wilson."Policy makers rightly took drastic action following the credit crisis, but now face huge challenges moving from austerity to growth. So, as well as progressing our own organic and acquisition growth plans, we are engaging positively with the Bank of England, PRA and Treasury as we pursue several growth options through direct investments."The stock was up 0.18% at 170.91p in early trading on Thursday, having jumped over 17% already in 2013.