Phoenix Group shares down as it goes ex-div, reports solid first-half

Phoenix Group reported significant first-half progress in its interim IFRS financial statements on Thursday, with an over twofold increase in new business long-term cash generation, surging to £885m.

The FTSE 100 company said the growth was complemented by consistent cash generation, with £898m remitted during the period.

Thursday also marked the day Phoenix was trading ex-dividend, with an interim dividend set at 26p per share.

Delving deeper into the results, Phoenix said introducing the global accounting standard IFRS 17 on 1 January had kept its inherent business economics the same.

As of 30 June, its IFRS adjusted shareholders' equity, considering a £2bn contractual service margin (CSM) post-tax, stood at £4.8bn, a drop of £0.4bn from 31 December.

That dip stemmed from a £261m post-tax IFRS loss for the first half and a £260m dividend payment for 2022's final quarter.

However, the decrease was partly balanced by favourable movements in other comprehensive income tied to currency hedges and pension scheme liabilities.

The group's CSM, excluding tax, reached £2.7bn by 30 June, marking 5% growth from its December figure of £2.6bn.

That growth was mainly attributed to the fresh BPA business and Sun Life of Canada UK business acquisition.

Representing a potential source of future profits, the company’s CSM was projected to assimilate into the profit and loss at an approximate rate of 5% to 7% annually.

Adjusted operating profit before tax for the first half was £266m, making for 5% annual growth from £254m in the first half of 2022.

That growth was put down to the CSM release, spurred by new BPA business and positive assumption shifts related to the preceding year.

Stability was seen in the group's first-half Fitch leverage ratio, consistently at 25% since the end of the 2022 financial year, positioning it at the lower end of its 25% to 30% target range.

Thus, leverage would help the group's merger and acquisition aspirations.

“Phoenix is successfully executing on its single strategic focus - helping customers journey to and through retirement - which, in turn, is enabling us to grow our business and deliver strong ongoing financial results,” said group chief executive officer Andy Briggs.

“By leveraging our three unique competitive advantages of capital efficiency, customer access, and cost efficiency, we are delivering strong organic growth.

“We more than doubled our incremental new business long-term cash generation in the first half and are on track to deliver our target of £1.5bn per annum by 2025.”

Briggs said the firm’s new business net fund flows also grew strongly in the first half, adding that it now expected its new business inflows to more than offset its Heritage run-off outflows from 2024 to deliver positive group net funds flows for the first time.

“We are also growing through mergers and acquisitions, delivering strong returns with an accelerated payback.

“M&A remains a strategic priority, and we are optimistic of further acquisition opportunities emerging over time and are confident in our ability to both fund and execute successfully.”

Delivering on its strategy underpinned Phoenix Group’s “dependable” dividend, Andy Briggs added, with a clear policy to 'pay a dividend that is sustainable and grows over time'.

“The board will assess the level of the 2023 final dividend alongside the full-year results next year, with the decision informed by our business performance across the whole of 2023.”

At 1038 BST, shares in Phoenix Group Holdings were down 6.14% at 476.8p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.