(Adds detail, CEO comment, analyst)
LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - British insurer Legal & General
will keep its final dividend payment for 2020 flat due
to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Thursday
as it set out five-year targets ahead of an investor day.
The life insurer aims to generate eight to nine billion
pounds ($10.56-$11.88 billion) in combined cash and capital,
paying dividends of 5.6-5.9 billion pounds over 2020-2024.
L&G is a major player in the market for annuities, which pay
pensioners a fixed income for life. It also invests in real
assets such as infrastructure and is one of the largest
investors in the UK stock market.
"The markets we operate in are large and growing and we are
well placed to capitalise," Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said.
It said it aimed for earnings per share to grow faster than
dividend growth, which it targeted at 3-6% annually.
Barclays analysts said the dividend growth target was lower
than growth of 7% seen in 2015-2019, adding the targets "fell
short of our expectations". The bank retained its overweight
rating on L&G's stock, but cut its price target to 311 pence
from 320 pence.
L&G said it had written 4.7 billion pounds in UK bulk
annuity deals - insuring a company's defined benefit, or final
salary, pension scheme - and had another 1.7 billion pounds "in
exclusive negotiations", which it expected to complete this
year.
Legal & General Investment Management's assets under
management stood at 1.23 trillion pounds at end-September,
slightly below the 1.24 trillion reported at end-June, though it
saw 6.4 billion pounds of third-party net inflows.
($1 = 0.7579 pounds)
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Sinead Cruise)
Legal & General (LGEN)
