LEI: 2138001P49OLAEU33T68
Phoenix Group delivers another year
of strong organic new business growth in 2023 and achieves its 2025
growth target two years early
· 2023 new
business net fund flows of c.£7bn, a c.80% year-on-year
increase
· Workplace
net fund flows of c.£4.5bn have nearly doubled year-on-year with
c.£2bn of new scheme assets transferred in 2023, including the
transfer of one of the largest workplace schemes tendered in the UK
market in recent years
· BPA
premiums of c.£6bn written in 2023 (FY22: £4.8bn), with a reduced
capital strain of <5%
· The Group
has therefore delivered c.£1.5bn of new business long-term cash
generation in 2023, achieving its 2025 target two years
early
Commenting on the trading update,
Phoenix Group CEO, Andy Briggs said:
"I am
delighted that Phoenix Group has delivered another year of strong
organic growth in 2023, with increased new business net fund flows
supporting us in delivering £1.5bn of new business long-term cash.
This means we have achieved our 2025 new business long-term cash
target two years early, reflecting the focus and investment we have
put into our growth strategy. Our capital-light fee-based Workplace
business continues to go from strength to strength, nearly doubling
its net fund flows year-on-year, including the transfer of one of
the largest workplace schemes tendered in the UK market in recent
years. Our BPA business also performed well in a buoyant market,
with c.£6bn of premiums contracted at a reduced capital strain of
less than 5%."
Phoenix Group Holdings plc ("Phoenix Group" or
"the Group") today announces that it has delivered strong organic
growth in 2023, with new business net fund flows of c.£7 billion
(FY22: £3.9 billion). This was underpinned by improved performance
in the Standard Life branded Pension & Savings and Retirement
Solutions businesses, and is in line with the Group's strategy to
deliver a balanced business mix through leveraging its scale in the
capital-light fee-based businesses and maintaining a disciplined
level of growth in annuities.
Within Pensions & Savings, the Workplace
business delivered net fund flows of c.£4.5 billion in 2023, nearly
double the prior year (FY22: £2.4 billion), supported by c.£2
billion of new scheme assets transferred in the period. This
included the transfer of the Siemens workplace scheme, one of the
largest workplace scheme transfers to have been tendered in the UK
market in recent years, which demonstrates the strength of our
proposition.
Growth in the Retirement Solutions business has
been driven by our Bulk Purchase Annuities ("BPA") business, which
completed an additional 7 BPA transactions during the second half
of 2023 covering c.£2.8 billion of premiums. The Group has
therefore contracted c.£6 billion of premiums during the year
(FY22: £4.8 billion). The capital invested for 2023 is expected to
be slightly less than £300 million, equating to a reduced capital
strain of <5% (FY22: 5.8%).
As a result of this strong performance, the
Group has delivered c.£1.5 billion of total new business long-term
cash generation in 2023, achieving its 2025 target two years early.
This outperformance reflects the Group's clear strategic focus and
investment into growth, which has been further accelerated by a
supportive economic environment.
Total Group net outflows, including the legacy
Heritage business, have nearly halved in 2023 to c.£(3) billion
(FY22: £(5.7) billion).
In line with the guidance provided at our 2023
Half Year results, the Group continues to expect its Solvency II
Surplus to be slightly below the 30 June position of £3.9 billion.
This reflects the continued investment we are making into our
business, which is supporting the strong growth we have reported
today.
Phoenix Group will announce its Full Year 2023
results on 22 March 2024.
Enquiries
Investors/analysts:
Claire Hawkins, Director of Corporate Affairs and
Investor Relations, Phoenix Group
+44 (0)20 4559 3161
Andrew Downey, Investor Relations Director, Phoenix
Group
+44 (0)20 4559 3145
Media:
Douglas Campbell, Teneo
+44 (0)7753 136 628
Shellie
Wells, Corporate Communications
Director, Phoenix Group
+44 (0)20
4559 3031
Legal Disclaimers
This announcement in relation to
Phoenix Group Holdings plc and its subsidiaries (the 'Group')
contains, and the Group may make other statements (verbal or
otherwise) containing, forward-looking statements and other
financial and/or statistical data about the Group's current plans,
goals, ambitions, outlook, guidance and expectations relating to
future financial condition, performance, results, strategy and/or
objectives.
Statements containing the words:
'believes', 'intends', 'will', 'may', 'should', 'expects', 'plans',
'aims', 'seeks', 'targets', 'continues' and 'anticipates' or other
words of similar meaning are forward looking. Such
forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical
data involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future
events and circumstances that are beyond the Group's control. For
example, certain insurance risk disclosures are dependent on the
Group's choices about assumptions and models, which by their nature
are estimates. As such, actual future gains and losses could differ
materially from those that the Group has estimated.
Other factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those estimated by
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
domestic and global economic, political, social, environmental and
business conditions; asset prices; market related risks such as
fluctuations in investment yields, interest rates and exchange
rates, the potential for a sustained low-interest rate or
high-interest rate, environment, and the performance of financial
or credit markets generally; the policies and actions of
governmental and/or regulatory authorities, including, for example,
initiatives related to the financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic,
climate change and the effect of the UK's version of the "Solvency
II" regulations on the Group's capital maintenance requirements;
the impact of changing inflation rates (including high inflation)
and/or deflation; the medium and long-term political, legal, social
and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK's exit
from the European Union; the direct and indirect consequences of
the European and global macroeconomic conditions of the
Russia-Ukraine War and related or other geopolitical conflicts;
information technology or data security breaches (including the
Group being subject to cyberattacks); the development of standards
and interpretations including evolving practices in ESG and climate
reporting with regard to the interpretation and application of
accounting; the limitation of climate scenario analysis and the
models that analyse them; lack of transparency and comparability of
climate-related forward-looking methodologies; climate change and a
transition to a low-carbon economy (including the risk that the
Group may not achieve its targets); market competition; changes in
assumptions in pricing and reserving for insurance business
(particularly with regard to mortality and morbidity trends, gender
pricing and lapse rates); the timing, impact and other
uncertainties of proposed or future acquisitions, disposals or
combinations within relevant industries; risks associated with
arrangements with third parties; inability of reinsurers to meet
obligations or unavailability of reinsurance coverage; the impact
of changes in capital, and implementing changes in IFRS 17 or any
other regulatory solvency and/or accounting standards, and tax and
other legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions in which
members of the Group operate.
As a result, the Group's actual
future financial condition, performance and results may differ
materially from the plans, goals, ambitions, outlook, guidance and
expectations set out in the forward-looking statements and other
financial and/or statistical data within this announcement. The
Group undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking
statements or data contained within this announcement or any other
forward-looking statements or data it may make or publish.
Nothing in this announcement constitutes, nor should it be
construed as, a profit forecast or estimate.