Just Retirement (JRG), which specialises in enhanced annuities for those with health-related issues, saw underlying operating profit slip just 3 per cent at the full-year stage, to £97m. That’s not bad given the pressures unleashed by the Budget day decision to scrap compulsory annuity purchases. It's also rather better than analysts had been expecting, with a consensus forecast of around £85m.
Inevitably, however, the annuity operation is struggling: sales volumes of individual annuities slumped over 50 per cent compared with the period prior to the Budget. But management hasn’t been idle. To begin with, £14m of annual cost savings have been delivered, earlier than originally planned. Management is also looking to begin launching a new range of products from April. This will continue to offer the income certainty associated with annuities, but with greater flexibility.