Legal & General lifts full-year dividend by 22 per cent

- Dividend raised 22 per cent- Pre-tax profits and earnings increase- LGIM and Cofunds drive results- Growth expected in 2014Legal & General (L&G) raised its full-year dividend by 22 per cent to 9.30p after delivering record 2013 results. Profit before tax grew 10% to £1.13bn and operating profit jumped 7% to £1.15bn as the financial services company achieved growth across all areas of business. Earnings per share were up 10% to 15.2p and return on equity rose to 16.1% from 15.4% the previous year. Net cash generation climbed 16% to £1m, driven by investments and rigorous cost controls."We have delivered significant outperformance during lean economic times and are building momentum as the economy recovers," said Chief Executive Nigel Wilson. "We now have over 10m customers who we provide with good quality, good value products and excellent service, including through the recent floods."Net inflows were £17bn including £9bn in the Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) division and £8bn into UK investment platform Cofund, which was acquired in May. LGIM now has £450bn of assets under management, and Cofunds, with £64bn of assets is the UK's largest Savings platform.Looking ahead the group sees itself benefiting from an estimated 3% growth in UK and US gross domestic product. The company also believes the Bank of England is unlikely to raise the Bank Rate this year. However, L&G warned that structural issues in the economy remain with low productivity levels, low real wage growth, sizeable government deficits and regulatory uncertainty."We expect the growth in our business which has been driven by the five key macro trends to continue in 2014 and beyond," the firm said. "This will be complemented by a continued focus on operational efficiency to ensure we maintain attractive returns and allow our growth businesses to invest in these opportunities."RD