Monday 12 August 2019 1:55 pm

Royal London sales hit by DB transfer drop despite rise in profits

LONDON – FEBRUARY 25: The sun rises over the City of London on February 25, 2010 in London, United Kingdom. As the UK gears up for one of the most hotly contested general elections in recent history it is expected that that the economy, immigration, the NHS and education are likely to form the basis of many of the debates. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life insurer, has reported a drop in new business sales during the first half of the year.

The pensions provider blamed an industry-wide reduction in defined benefit (DB) transfers today for a four per cent year-on-year fall in new business sales to £5.8bn for the first six months of 2019.

However, IFRS profit before tax rose 116 per cent to £411m, as the firm cited strong market performance for equities and debt securities.

Net inflows also jumped 31 per cent to £5.5bn.

Chairman Kevin Parry described first-half trading as “robust”, adding that the group was “well prepared for Brexit and will continue to monitor carefully any developments that might affect our business and customers.”

Today’s results come amid a changing of the guard at Royal London, which has appointed Barry O’Dwyer as its new chief executive.

O’Dwyer, who started his career at Standard Life back in 1988 and has since held a range of senior positions at the firm, is set to take the reins as boss next month.