Profits jump at Legal & General

Profit after tax rose by 43% to £952m.

Profits jump at Legal & General

Legal & General had a strong financial performance in H1 2017 with profits lifted considerably, first half results reveal.

Total lifetime mortgage lending reached £424.3m for H1, whilst operating profit and profit after tax rose 27% and 43% respectively.

Nigel Wilson, group chief executive of L&G, said: “Our consistently improving financial performance is due to investing for the long term in our market leading businesses, excellent execution by my colleagues and delivering value for customers.

“We have tremendous momentum across our business, a strong AA-rated balance sheet and increasing access to global growth opportunities, therefore we remain confident in our ability to deliver growth.”

The report set out Legal & General’s intentions towards housing growth, with plans to expand into later living and review opportunities in affordable housing.

Steve Ellis, managing director at Legal & General Home Finance, added: “Today’s results show that we continue to go from strength to strength.

“I am immensely proud of the work the team at Legal & General Home Finance has done to put us in this position, but as a lender that has a responsibility to this market there is of course more we can do - the story has only just begun.”

L&G are reportedly “on track” to meet its sales proceeds target of around £250m from asset disposals, with LGC’s £3.9bn traded asset portfolio outperforming their long-term assumptions in H1 2017.