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NEWS RELEASE
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www.justgroupplc.co.uk
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15 January 2025
JUST GROUP
plc
2024
Retirement Income sales up 36% to £5.3bn
Just Group plc ("Just", the "Group")
announces a business update for the year ended 31 December
2024.
David Richardson, Group Chief Executive,
said:
"Our performance in
2024 once again proves the strength of our
business model, with strong growth achieved across both our Defined
Benefit and Retail businesses. Just's success is driven by our
market insight, risk selection and our ability to provide
innovative solutions for the DB and retail markets. This is
underpinned by continuous investment in the capabilities required
to grow sustainably, as demonstrated by the completion of our
largest DB transaction to date, at £1.8bn.
I am extremely grateful to my
colleagues, for their commitment in making 2024 another year of
fantastic delivery and I am very proud that we have been able to
help more people than ever achieve a better later life.
As we communicated at our H1 24
results, we expect 2024 operating profit to substantially exceed a
doubling of 2021 operating profit. Our successes in 2024 and
positioning in strong markets together with the ongoing tailwind
from higher long-term rates give us confidence in our prospects for
2025 and beyond. We are very excited about the future for
Just."
Highlights
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Retirement Income sales (shareholder funded) up 36% to
£5.3bn, driven by
both Defined Benefit De-risking ("DB") and
Guaranteed Income for Life ("GIfL"). Total Retirement Income sales,
which includes DB Partner, were up 49% to £6.4bn.
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DB
sales (shareholder funded) up 43% to £4.3bn,
with total sales, including DB Partner, up 57% to
£5.4bn. We completed 129 transactions during the year (2023: 80
transactions), an all-time single year record for the
industry. Since market entry, we have
completed over 500 transactions, of which over half have been in
the last three years, further demonstrating the strength of our
market proposition.
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Just completed its largest DB transaction to date; a
£1.8bn full buy-in with the Trustee
of the G4S Pension Scheme. We have all the capabilities in place to
deliver de-risking solutions for small, medium and large DB
schemes, which supports our confidence in the future.
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GIfL sales up 16% to £1.0bn, as
we maintain pricing discipline in a strong market. In response to
recent FCA scrutiny, financial advisers have been prompted to
ensure their advice processes treat spenders differently to savers.
Following these policy interventions, together with higher long
term interest rates, we have observed greater utilisation of
guaranteed income solutions, driving higher growth in the
market.
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Illiquid asset origination1 increased by 40% to
£2.4bn (2023: £1.7bn), which
supports our new business pricing, while also diversifying the
in-force asset backing portfolio. Of this, £1.0bn was sourced
internally by our expanded Investments team, demonstrating the
flexibility and scalability of our origination model, in addition
to lifetime mortgages.
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New
business strain is expected to be below 2% and, as previously
guided, FY 24 new business margins are expected to be lower than H1
24, principally driven by business mix. We have maintained pricing discipline and a continued focus on
risk selection, derived from our unique insight and positioning in
strong markets.
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Just Group new business2
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Year ended
31/12/24
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Year
ended
31/12/23
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Change
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£m
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£m
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%
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Defined Benefit
De-risking
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4,275
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2,999
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43
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Guaranteed Income for
Life
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1,033
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894
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16
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Retirement Income sales (shareholder funded)
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5,308
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3,893
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36
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DB Partner (funded
reinsurance)3
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1,101
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416
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165
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Total Retirement Income sales
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6,409
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4,309
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49
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Note: Total Defined Benefit
De-risking sales4
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5,376
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3,415
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57
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Note 1: Illiquid asset origination is the sum of
Illiquid assets (54 investments) and shareholder backed lifetime
mortgages (£2,077m + £326m = £2,403m, leading to a 45% illiquid
backing ratio on £5,308m of Retirement Income sales - shareholder
funded)
Note 2: Numbers in table subject to
rounding
Note 3: 2024 DB Partner comprises a single
transaction as announced on 14 November 2024 (2023: 1
transaction)
Note 4: Total Defined Benefit De-risking sales
is the sum of Defined Benefit De-risking and DB Partner (£4,275m +
£1,101m = £5,376m)
All the figures are
unaudited
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FINANCIAL CALENDAR
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DATE
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Results for the year ended 31
December 2024
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7 March 2025
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Annual General Meeting
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8 May 2025
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Interim results for the six months
ended 30 June 2025
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7 August 2025
(provisional)
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Enquiries
Investors / Analysts
Alistair Smith, Investor
Relations
Telephone: +44 (0) 1737 232
792
alistair.smith@wearejust.co.uk
Paul Kelly, Investor
Relations
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7444
8127
paul.kelly@wearejust.co.uk
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Media
Stephen Lowe, Group Communications
Director
Telephone: +44 (0) 1737 827
301
press.office@wearejust.co.uk
Temple Bar Advisory
Alex Child-Villiers
Sam Livingstone
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7183
1190
just@templebaradvisory.com
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A copy of this announcement will be
available on the Group's website www.justgroupplc.co.uk
JUST GROUP PLC
GROUP COMMUNICATIONS
Enterprise House
Bancroft Road
Reigate
Surrey RH2 7RP
