This was down from advances of £163m last year, which L&G said reflected a “decline in demand” due to higher interest rates. The provider said it continued to “maintain pricing and underwriting discipline”. 

L&G Retail’s protection gross premium income rose from £752m in H1 2023 to £760m this year. Its new business annual premiums came to £75m, down slightly from £76m a year earlier. L&G said this was achieved during a “highly competitive market”. 

The firm also said it was a leader in this market, with a share of 18.8%, and praised its ability to deliver a point-of-sale underwriting decision to more than 80% of its customers. Earlier this week, L&G announced changes to its adviser protection platform, with updates made in response to feedback.

For the first six months of the year, L&G Retail saw its operating profit increase by 6% to £268m, which it owed to a rise in contractual service margin release and a positive claims experience. The contractual service margin is the unearned profit a company expects to earn through its services. 

However, the group said its retail division’s profit was slightly impacted by higher non-attributable expenses. 

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Profit expected to grow

The wider L&G Group closed the period with a profit after tax of £223m, down from £377m a year ago. 

António Simões, CEO of L&G Group, said the results reflected the “ongoing strength” of the business, adding that its core operating profit was slightly higher than last year. This rose from £844m to £849m.

“We continue to expect 2024 core operating profit to grow by mid-single digits year-on-year,” he added. 

Simões said: “At our Capital Markets event in June, we set out our strategy to deliver L&G’s next phase of sustainable growth and enhanced returns, through focused capital allocation and rigour in execution. We are pleased to announce a 5% increase in interim dividends per share, and progress in undertaking a £200m share buyback, consistent with our new capital return framework. 

“We are making clear progress on delivering against our strategy, notably in the establishment of a single asset manager.” 

Simões said: “Looking ahead, we are well-positioned to continue to execute our strategy with pace and ambition, delivering growth and value for all our stakeholders.”