Now the dust has settled on the life assurance industry following the introduction of Solvency II last year, Just Group (JUST) has regained some of its sales momentum. New sales of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme derisking products were up 80 per cent to £296m during the six months to the end of June, as the pricing disruption within the market dissipated. New sales of these products accounted for 41 per cent of the retirement income total during the period, compared with a little more than a quarter over the same period in 2016.
A more buoyant DB market helped lift underlying operating profit almost half to £101m. Since the end of June, the life assurer has written a further £260m of new DB business. Individual annuity business – or 'guaranteed income for life solutions', in Just's terminology – was more subdued. However, sales did pick up in the second quarter, up almost 25 per cent on the prior year. Drawdown sales also more than quadrupled to £22m. New lifetime mortgage sales were lower at £230m, down more than a quarter on 2016.
Analysts at Numis expect adjusted pre-tax profit of £136m during the 12 months to December 2017, giving EPS of 15.1p (from £171m and 14.1p in 2016).
| JUST GROUP (JUST) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 157.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.47bn | |
| TOUCH: | 157.1-157.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 164p | LOW: 95p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 83 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 176p | SOLVENCY II RATIO: | 150% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Gross written premiums (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 505 | 158 | 18.4 | 1.10 |
| 2017 | 722 | 66 | 6.3 | 1.17 |
| % change | +43 | -58 | -66 | +6 |
| Ex-div: | 2 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 24 Nov |
