L&G reports growth in lifetime mortgages and protection – Mortgage Strategy
Legal & General increased lifetime and retirement interest-only mortgage lending by 23% in the first half of this year to £128m, up from £104m in the first six months of last year.
In its half-year results, L&G’s core operating profit rose by 7% to £918m.
The life company also reported growth in its protection business, which it says “remained strong” with a focus on “writing strong volumes at disciplined margins”.
New business annual premiums rose by 22% to £168m.
Gross protection premiums for its retail customers edged up by almost 2% to £784m.
In its group protection business, gross premiums rose by 5% to £406m.
Its results statement says that growth in later life lending was “supported by
pricing changes implemented in H2 2025” but that “volumes remained sensitive to market conditions”.
L&G CEO António Simões says: “We are making good progress in becoming a simpler, more focused L&G. Core operating profit grew 7%, core operating EPS increased 11%, and we have completed c.£450m of our £1.2bn buyback programme.
“The highlight of the first half was the performance in asset management, with fee-related earnings increasing 37%, supported by record annualised net new revenue and a reduced cost-income ratio of 71%.
“We continue to cement our leading positions in retail. Workplace pensions administered assets increased 27% year on year to £128bn and total UK DC assets under management reached £236bn.
“Our scale and the connections between our businesses remain a clear competitive advantage, which we are building further through improvements in operating efficiency.”
