L&G jumps on buyer interest report; CEO says not considering sale

Thu, 14th May 2026 10:14

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Legal and General shares rose ⁠by more than 5% on Thursday after the Financial Times reported that possible buying interest was building, while quoting its CEO ‌Antonio Simoes as saying the asset manager was not considering a sale.

Interest ⁠from potential bidders for L&G has been ⁠growing as questions about its future as a public company have emerged, the FT reported. It cited a current insider who said that some parts of L&G were trying hard to address ‌structural issues.

A spokesperson for L&G, whose shares were on track for their biggest one-day jump since December 2024, declined to comment on the FT report on Thursday. Simoes has pledged to improve performance and boost investor returns by simplifying L&G and expanding its capital-light asset management and ‌retail divisions. In October, he told Reuters he had work to do to convince investors about its ‌strategy. He told Reuters last month that L&G aims to double its assets under management in Asia to around $500 billion as it seeks to grow its international business.

Shares in L&G were up 5.3% at 0909 GMT, compared with a ‌1.7% rise in the FTSE 350 index of insurer stocks. They are now little changed for the year. L&G posted a 6% rise in annual ⁠core profit ⁠and launched a 1.2-billion-pound ($1.6 billion) share buyback in ‌March, but missed analyst expectations for some other key earnings metrics.

It reported a core operating profit of 1.62 billion pounds, slightly below analyst expectations, while its ‌Solvency II cover ratio - a key metric of financial strength - was 210%, down from 232%; that also missed forecasts. (Reporting by Sophie Kiderlin and Iain Withers; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Alexander Smith)