Legal & General (LON: LGEN) shares have declined in early trading on Wednesday, down around 1% to 299.6p, even after the insurer and asset manager posted an 11% rise in core operating earnings per share for the first half of 2026.
The FTSE 100 group reported core operating profit of £918m, up 7% year-on-year, with core operating EPS growth of 11%, and said it now expects full-year 2026 core operating EPS growth to come in above the top of its 6-9% target range. IFRS pre-tax profit surged to £1,997m, boosted by a gain on the disposal of its non-retained US business.
CEO António Simões said the group was making “good progress” in becoming a “simpler, more focused” L&G, highlighting a standout performance from Asset Management, where fee-related earnings jumped 37% and the cost-income ratio improved four percentage points to 71%.
Institutional Retirement wrote or secured exclusivity on £5.7bn of global pension risk transfer business, while Workplace Pensions assets under administration rose 27% to £128bn.
The board declared a 2% increase in the interim dividend to 6.24p per share and confirmed roughly £450m of its £1.2bn buyback programme has been completed, part of a pledge to return over £5bn to shareholders between 2025 and 2027. Solvency II coverage stood at a robust 201%, comfortably above target.
Despite the upbeat guidance and shareholder returns, investors appeared to focus on softer capital generation growth and possibly profit-taking after recent share price gains, pressuring the stock lower on the day.
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