British insurer Resolution posts better-than-expected results on strong UK growth
UK life insurance company Resolution Limited has announced it made a pre-tax operating profit of £191m (£182m expected by Credit Suisse analysts) and operating earnings per share of 13.26p in the first half of the year, up 17 per cent from the same period the year before (release).
The company said the value of new business remained flat at £97m, but highlighted strong performance in its UK and Heritage division, where new business increased 21 per cent to £81m.
The group has embarked on a cost-cutting programme, and has now secured £154m of savings – 96 per cent of its 2015 target.
Chief executive Andy Briggs said:
We continue to make excellent operational progress in line with the clear and consistent strategy and value agenda of the Group. The strong performance announced today reflects the attractive strategic outlook of the Group and has been led by the UK division where higher value of new business has been written at a lower cash cost. We have continued to deliver cash from our Heritage division and made good progress on International strategy implementation. This financial discipline underpins strong growth in cash generation and I remain confident about the future prospects of the Group.
Resolution said it would be holding its interim dividend at 7.05p.