Just Group PLC

Business and Financial Review • Feb 6, 2019

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RNS Number : 1138P

Just Group PLC

06 February 2019

NEWS RELEASE	www.justgroupplc.co.uk

6 February 2019

JUST GROUP plc

BUSINESS UPDATE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018

Just Group plc ("Just", the "Group") announces a business update for the year ended 31 December 2018.

Highlights

·       Retirement Income sales for FY18 were 15% higher than for FY17, driven by the continued growth in Defined Benefit De-risking ("DB") sales.
·       DB sales for FY18 were up 32% to £1,314m, reflecting a strong year for the market. Following the record volumes in earlier quarters, we were able to be increasingly selective on the business we transacted in Q418.  We also saw the market show similar pricing discipline. 2018 has been a record year for DB sales across the market, and expectations are that 2019 will be another strong year.
·       Guaranteed Income for Life ("GIfL") sales for FY18 were down 4% to £786m. Our volumes slowed in Q418 as pricing increases implemented following the Prudential Regulation Authority's publication of CP13/18 took effect. Shopping around continues to grow as a proportion of total market sales and reached 54% in Q318.
·       Lifetime Mortgage ("LTM") advances of £602m were up 18% on FY17, in line with the growth in Retirement Income sales. LTM market growth was strong as both customer appetite and supply from insurers increased.

Just Group new business1	12 months to 31/12/18	12 months to 31/12/17	Change
	£m	£m	%
Defined Benefit De-risking	1,314	998	32
Guaranteed Income for Life	786	821	(4)
Care Plans	73	72	2
Retirement Income sales	2,173	1,890	15
Drawdown	51	51	0
Total Retirement sales	2,224	1,941	15
Protection2	1	6	NM
Lifetime mortgage loans advanced	602	510	18
Total new business sales	2,827	2,457	15

Rodney Cook, Group Chief Executive, said:

"I am pleased to report on an excellent year for Just. Despite the challenges we faced we have achieved another year of double digit sales growth and helped more customers than ever. The significant regulatory uncertainty caused by CP13/18 has not distracted our colleagues, our distributors or our customers from the quality of our products and services and I thank all of them for their continued support. As previously announced, following the publication of PS31/18, the Board is continuing to consider the optimal capital mix and level for the Group in order to provide a prudent base to support our new business franchise, and to establish an appropriate dividend policy for shareholders.

We remain focused on our disciplined pricing strategy and on achieving attractive returns on capital from new business and we have been increasingly selective in all our three main markets during the second half of the year in order to maximise returns.

We look forward to presenting our full year results in March."

New business sales by quarter1 (£m)

3 months to:	31 Dec 2018	30 Sep 2018	30 Jun 2018	31 Mar 2018	31 Dec 2017	30 Sep 2017	30 Jun 2017	31 Mar 2017	31 Dec 2016
Defined Benefit De-risking	233	363	469	249	434	269	170	125	365
Guaranteed Income for Life	159	201	238	188	213	217	216	174	174
Care Plans	21	17	18	18	20	18	17	17	19
Retirement Income	413	581	725	454	666	504	403	317	559
Drawdown	13	14	13	11	14	14	11	12	10
Total Retirement sales	426	595	738	465	681	518	414	328	569
Protection2	-	-	-	1	2	1	1	2	1
LTM loans advanced	119	170	162	151	142	137	124	107	95
Total new business sales	545	765	900	617	826	656	539	436	665

Notes

1.     Numbers in table subject to rounding.

2.     Protection closed to new business in Q4 17. Q1 18 Protection new business sales represented applications in the pipeline. 

Enquiries Investors / Analysts James Pearce, Director of Group Finance Telephone: +44 (0) 7715 085 099 james.pearce@wearejust.co.uk Alistair Smith, Investor Relations Manager Telephone: +44 (0) 1737 232 792 alistair.smith@wearejust.co.uk	Media Stephen Lowe, Group Communications Director Telephone: +44 (0) 1737 827 301 press.office@wearejust.co.uk Temple Bar Advisory Alex Child-Villiers William Barker Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7002 1080

FINANCIAL CALENDAR	DATE
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2018	14 March 2019
AGM and Q119 Business Update	16 May 2019

A copy of this announcement will be available on the Group's website www.justgroupplc.co.uk

JUST GROUP PLC

GROUP COMMUNICATIONS

Vale House, Roebuck Close

Bancroft Road, Reigate

Surrey RH2 7RU

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