Phoenix Group shares soar after upgrading outlooks
Shares in Phoenix Group rallied over six per cent on Monday morning after the firm smashed its cash generation target and upgraded its future guidance.
The FTSE 100 company, which owns insurer Standard Life, recorded a 31 per cent increase in operating profit for 2024, which hit £825m.
The group met its 2026 target of £1.4bn operating cash generation two years early, with a total cash generation of £1.78bn.
It upgraded its three-year total cash generation target to £5.1bn from £4.4bn.
The firm’s board declared a final dividend of 27.35p per share, a 2.6 per cent increase from 2023.
Its solvency ratio was 172 per cent, against a consensus forecast of 169 per cent.
Results ‘driven by’ Standard Life business
Andy Briggs, Phoenix Group’s chief executive, told City PM the results were “driven by a strong underlining performance in Standard Life.”
In its results, the group said it saw a “huge market opportunity in its Standard Life business” due to its status as a “top three player in workplace pensions”.
The group’s pensions and savings arm won over 100 new schemes and increased net inflows by 13 per cent, bringing its assets under administration to £66.5bn.
On Standard Life’s growth, Briggs said: “Over the last five years, we have invested in propositions, technology capabilities, people and the services we can deliver as a result.
“That’s why we’re winning out in the market.”
He added shifting government policy “to drive consolidation to smaller funds” would bode well for the group, predicting Standard Life would be a “clear net winner” in the area.
Briggs shared aspirations for the group to make further growth in the retail market to retain existing customers and roll over into retirement income.
In the firm’s annual results report, Briggs said: “Delivery will give us the financial flexibility to reduce our leverage, while also sustaining our progressive dividend for shareholders.
“It also brings us closer to realising our vision to be the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business.”