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Phoenix Group Holdings PLC on Monday reported a widened loss for 2022 due to a jump in net investment losses, but still increased its annual dividend. The London-listed blue-chip life insurance provider said pretax loss widened to £2.84 billion in 2022 from £430 million in 2021. Net income amounted to a loss of £31.75 billion, compared to a positive income of £24.54 billion. This was due to £38.1 billion in negative net investment income, compared to positive £18.0 billion. Basic loss per share was 185.2 pence, compared to loss per share of 86.4p year-on-year. Net premiums were flat at £5.37 billion from £5.38 billion. Adjusted operating profit was £1.25 billion, up slightly from £1.23 billion a year earlier. Company-compiled market consensus had expected it to drop to £1.13 billion. Chief Executive Officer Andy Briggs said: ‘Phoenix has a simple strategy that is focused on the UK long-term savings and retirement market. We have continued to make excellent progress across all areas of that strategy in 2022, despite the challenging economic backdrop.’ Phoenix declared a final dividend of 26.0p per share for 2022, lifting its annual dividend by 3.9% to 50.8 pence per share from 48.9p a year prior. Looking ahead, Phoenix noted that 2023 has ‘a challenging economic environment’, but it remains confident that its model and risk management approach will ensure that it remains ‘highly resilient to any economic volatility’. Cash amounted to £1.51 billion at period end. It is down 12% from £1.72 billion in 2021 but above target range of £1.3 billion to £1.4 billion. Shares were down 3.5% at 596.40 pence each on Monday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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