This is by way of a Memo for the noticeboard.
This Resolution business buys-up distressed policies - so called Zombie Funds (really?), that have underperformed for the policy-holders.
The hope is that by cutting costs some good will come of it.........but you and I know that once someone else has control of your money, suddenly it starts to misbehave; like an nephew you never knew.
No doubt the magement will be full of Shareholder value and policyholder improvements, but I remain to be convinced and wonder why so many of our respected Institutions ever bothered with policies that didn't perform.....were they advertised as such, or given a great gloss as the salesmen collected their fees?

Interims on Thursday I believe.

Stan - 13th August - Financial calendar

hangon - any chance of a chart in the header?

Thanks Skinny, me getting mixed up with RSA

Half Year Results

Strong financial performance and improving cash generation

· Sustainable free surplus £147 million, up 23% (30 June 2012: £120 million)

· IFRS based operating profit before tax of £191 million (30 June 2012: £163 million)

· IFRS based operating earnings per share up 17% to 13.26 pence (30 June 2012: 11.32 pence)

· MCEV operating profit before tax of £214 million (30 June 2012: £235 million) reflects expected impact of long-term interest rate environment

Strong capital base underpins dividend

· Available shareholder cash £839 million (31 December 2012: £850 million)

· Group IGCA surplus(i) £2.1 billion, coverage ratio 222% (surplus at 31 December 2012: £2.2 billion, 221% coverage ratio)

· Economic capital surplus(ii) £3.7 billion, coverage ratio 192% (surplus at 31 December 2012: £3.5 billion, 194% coverage ratio)

· Interim dividend of 7.05 pence per share (30 June 2012: 7.05 pence per share)

Improving new business performance

· Strong growth in UK division; value of new business of £89 million, up 41% and at an IRR of 16.7%

· International division core value of new business £21 million (30 June 2012: £22 million) reflecting resilient performance in difficult markets

· Total Group VNB £97 million; Group new business IRR of 11.2%; Group margin increased to 2.8%

Operating highlights

· Successful recapture of an additional £7 billion of assets by in-house asset manager FLI

· Corporate Benefits performance exceeds expectations with 30% increase in VNB, strong pipeline of new schemes and auto-enrolling clients for the rest of the year

· £154 million of cost savings secured at 30 June 2013 (96% of 2015 target)

· Good progress made on delivering the International strategy with controlled exit from German manufacturing to be completed in third quarter 2013 and all other non-core exit actions completed

4 year high 342.40.

Just added here.

Canaccord Genuity Buy 322.75 328.00 325.00 355.00 Reiterates

Citigroup Neutral 315.15 318.70 261.00 314.00 Reiterates

Goldman Sachs Neutral 323.85 323.80 316.00 325.00 Reiterates

3+ year high @343.

4+ year high @356.80p

Q3 Interim Management Statement

Continued strong UK new business growth and resilient performance in core International division

· Strong growth in the UK division with value of new business ("VNB") up 41% to £133 million driven by good performance across all business units:

- Retirement Income VNB of £64 million, up 78% compared to prior year
- Protection VNB up 14% to £50 million
- Corporate Benefits VNB up 36% to £19 million with continued good progress on auto-enrolment; 146 schemes of 97 employers staged by the end of September
· Core International division results reflect resilient performance in challenging market conditions with VNB of £25 million (30 September 2012: £27 million)

· Group VNB at £136 million (30 September 2012: £138 million) including £(22) million VNB from the Heritage division and non-core International business

· Group PVNBP margin1 at 2.7% (30 September 2012: 2.4%), with UK division margin up at 4.5% (30 September 2012: 3.3%)

Strong capital position maintained and continued focus on cash generation

· The Group's capital position remains strong with an IGCA surplus2 of £2.1 billion

· Group available shareholder cash of £821 million (30 June 2013: £839 million)

Operational highlights

· 2013 run-rate savings target of £126 million achieved three months early

· New business sales in International non-core markets ceased in September 2013

· Programme to reallocate circa £2 billion of annuity reserves from the with-profits to non-profits fund completed in September

· Significant enhancements delivered across protection propositions

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 350.70 302.00 368.00 Reiterates

New 5 year high @380.20p

New high @381.50p

Final results 18th March.

Results for the year ended 31 December 2013

Resolution Limited

Results for the year ended 31 December 2013

Strong financial performance

· Sustainable free surplus £331 million, up 10% (2012: £300 million)

· Value of new business up 5% to £204 million (2012: £194 million), including 30% increase in the UK division

· IFRS based operating profit before tax of £436 million, up 59% (2012: £274 million)

· MCEV operating profit before tax of £489 million, up 28% (2012: £382 million)

Improved cash generation, strong capital base, increased dividend cover

· Available shareholder assets £917 million

· IGCA surplus(i) £2.2 billion, coverage ratio 238%

· Economic capital surplus(ii) £3.9 billion, coverage ratio 193%

· Full year dividend of 21.14 pence per share subject to shareholder approval (2012: 21.14 pence per share)

· Full year dividend covered 1.1 times by sustainable free surplus (31 December 2012: 1.0 times)

Operational highlights

· Successful restructuring of the business over the last three years is complete, £160 million of cost savings secured

· Successful delivery of key 2013 financial targets

· It is appropriate in this new phase to move away from a restructuring brand and therefore the Company will seek approval from shareholders to change the Company's name at the AGM to Friends Life Group Limited

· Completion of circa £2 billion with-profits annuity reallocation

· Investment mandates placed for commercial real estate and infrastructure loans

Strategic update

· A leading scale player in the attractive UK Life and Pensions market, primarily focused on the fast growing retirement market and skilled management of closed books

· Continued, disciplined focus on generation of cash and returns

· Progressive dividend to be considered when sustainable free surplus coverage of the ordinary dividend exceeds 1.3 times

· Major new strategic partnership with Schroders announced; £12.2 billion of equity and multi-asset funds to be managed on behalf of Resolution customers

· The Company will seek approval from shareholders to change the Company's name to Friends Life Group Limited

· Discussions regarding potential sale of Lombard are ongoing

Andy Briggs, Group Chief Executive said:

"The restructuring of the business is now complete. We have a sustainable business with a profitable base for future growth. We operate in attractive growth markets, focused on managing legacy life and pension products, and capturing value in the fast-growing retirement provision market. The Company continues to seek to maximise value from each part of the Group while retaining its focus on rigorous financial discipline. We remain focused on generating growth in both cash and returns while maintaining our strong capital base."

(i) Estimated
(ii) Estimated and unaudited

RBC Capital Markets Outperform 355.30 351.00 420.00 420.00 Retains

Canaccord Genuity Hold 355.30 351.00 375.00 375.00 Downgrades

Societe Generale Hold 304.75 - 350.00 Reiterates

Comment on budget proposals

Resolution believes that the impact of the Chancellor's proposals for greater choice in pensions will be far-reaching and the implications will take time to be fully understood.

There is a negative implication for new business flows in the individual annuity market, as some people utilise the increased flexibility provided by the Chancellor's proposals. However, we believe that annuities will continue to be an important product for those who value the guaranteed income throughout increasingly long retirement periods.

Overall we see the proposals as a positive for the retirement savings market. The increased flexibility for savers means the attractiveness of placing additional contributions into a pension has now increased. As the number 2 player in workplace Defined Contribution ('DC') pensions with around 2 million DC pension customers overall (estimated to hold 1 in 7 policies in the market), and with positive operational leverage in our Corporate Benefits business, Friends Life is well placed to benefit from these changes.

As highlighted at our Strategy Update this week, we have 1 in 9 retiring DC pension customers, and we are already working on expanding our transition to retirement propositions, including guidance and a broader range of products and services for our customers as they approach retirement. We remain well positioned for this key, fast growing market segment.

In 2013 our UK Retirement Income business contributed £4 million to our Sustainable Free Surplus ('SFS') of £331 million; the IFRS operating profit contribution was £30 million out of £436 million for the Group. In addition the business contributed £83 million to Value of New Business within Group MCEV operating profit of £489 million. Guaranteed Annuity Options, which in the current low interest rate environment are likely to continue to offer good value for customers, represented about half of our annuity new business volumes in 2013.

We do not expect the changes announced today to have any impact on our Heritage business or our Group MCEV of £6,065 million (as at 31 December 2013). Furthermore, we reiterate our guidance on the estimated £39 million uplift in Expected Return (a key component of our SFS generation) for the combined UK and Heritage divisions in 2014.

- Ends -