Royal London reports nine per cent increase in pre-tax profits in H1 2018

Royal London has reported a nine per cent increase in pre-tax profits and a £2 million rise in operating profits in the first half of the year, The Scotsman reports.

The life and pensions firm, with offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, said its operating profit was £187 million in the period ending 30 June 2018.

Life and pensions sales dropped by £1 million to £6.077 billion, but new business margin remained at 1.8 per cent.

Chief executive Phil Loney said: “Sluggish economic growth and the ending of the auto-enrolment roll-out provided a challenging backdrop for pensions and investment companies in the first half of 2018. I’m pleased to report that Royal London has consolidated its record 2017 trading position with EEV pre-tax profit up 9 per cent to £358m, reflecting an operating profit of £187m in the first six months of the year.”

Mr Loney also told The Scotsman that the insurance sector is “very well prepared” for Brexit, but that the regulators needed to be able to make decisions independently of the EU after Brexit.

He said: “We don’t want to be outside the EU, taking regulation from the EU but not at the table influencing it.

“We, that is the regulators, need to be able to set the regulation for the UK.”

Royal London is currently turning its Irish arm into an EU subsidiary, but said new jobs in Ireland will not come “at the expense of the UK”.