SHARES in Phoenix Group rose more than 8% after the Standard Life owner increased its dividend, profit guidance and its cost-saving target.
It came as the life and pensions giant reported cash generation in excess of guidance and booked record new business under its Standard Life brand in 2023.
Phoenix, which acquired the life and pensions business of Standard Life from abrdn for £3.2 billion in 2018, generated total cash of £2.024bn in 2023, up from £1.504bn the year before and exceeding its upgraded target of around £1.8bn.
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Phoenix said cash generation was helped by around £400m from the Part VII transfer of Standard Life and Phoenix Life, as announced in November, and £1.514bn of incremental new business long-term cash generation, up from £1.233bn. This meant it achieved its 2025 target of £1.5bn two years early.
Operating profit before tax climbed by 13% to £617m, driven by strong growth in pensions and savings.
The company, which acquired the Sun Life UK brand in 2022, declared it is now targeting £900m of adjusted operating profits in 2026, up from £617m in 2023, a 50% increase. It is targeting annual cost savings of around £250m by the end of 2026.
Phoenix announced a final dividend of 26.65p per share, up 2.5%, taking the total dividend for 2023 to 52.65p, up 3.6%.
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Chief executive Andy Briggs said: “Phoenix's vision is to be the UK's leading retirement savings and income business, and we are making great progress in delivering our strategy to achieve this, as our strong 2023 financial results demonstrate. We have achieved our 2025 growth target two years early with £1.5bn of new business cash delivered by our Standard Life business - a new record.
“We delivered over £2bn of cash generation and maintained our resilient balance sheet, and our strong performance has enabled the board to recommend a 2.5% dividend increase. The next phase of our strategy will see us balance our investment across our strategic priorities to grow, optimise and enhance our business. This will support us in delivering the ambitious new 2026 targets we are announcing today. Our confidence in this strategy is demonstrated by the new progressive and sustainable dividend policy we will operate going forward.”
Shares in Phoenix Group closed up 8.4%, or 41p, at 529.2p.
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