New business jumps as Just Group hails ‘buoyant market’
British pensions provider Just Group posted a surge in new business sales in the third quarter of 2018, sending shares up by more than six per cent in early morning trading.
Total new business sales hit £765m in the three months to the end of September, rising from £656m in the third quarter of 2017.
Retirement income sales in the third quarter of 2018 also rose to £581m from £504 when compared with the same period one year ago.
Rodney Cook, chief executive of Just Group, said: “The markets in which we operate are generally buoyant…Whilst the price increases will affect sales in the final quarter we remain confident of delivering a strong performance for the year.”
The FTSE 250 firm said that demand from companies to pass on risks associated with final salary pension schemes, referred to as defined benefit de-risking, helped drive the improvement after a year-on-year rise to £363m in the third quarter.
Earlier this month shares in the retirement specialist tumbled on the news that its finance chief Simon Thomas was to step down, coming days after the company delayed dividends amid planned regulatory changes.
However, fears that the company’s finances could be hit by potential changes to lifetime mortgage rules have eased in the last month, after the UK regulator said that any new limits would not come in until the end of next year.