Phoenix Group sees more UK Plc pension insurance deals as Brexit nears
Phoenix Group, Europe’s largest owner of life assurance funds closed to new customers, expects Britain’s approaching departure from the European Union to push more UK companies to offload risks linked to their pension schemes in 2019.
The company also reported higher full-year profit and targeted cash generation of 3.8 billion pounds ($5.01 billion)from 2019 to 2023, more than the 2.5 billion pounds it earlier expected to earn between 2018 and 2022.
Phoenix, poised to enter London’s blue-chip index, also said its preparations for Brexit were complete, adding it would transfer assets to an Irish domiciled unit in which it has injected 250 million pounds.
“We think we are bullet proof. We are ready for any Brexit scenario,” Chief Executive Officer Clive Bannister told Reuters.
Phoenix’s European businesses make up about 10 percent of its assets under management, with the Irish office managing 23 billion pounds. The company employs 600 people in Ireland and Germany, under 15 percent of its workforce.
Phoenix’s shares were 2.5 percent higher at 723.4 pence at 0918 GMT after it said IFRS operating profit rose to 708 million pounds in the year ended Dec. 31, from 368 million pounds a year earlier.
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