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Press release

2025 half year results

Press release

2025 half year results

Strong growth and strengthening Solvency balance sheet

Woman giving child piggy back

Delivering against strategic priorities 
Improved leverage and solvency ratios
Firmly on track to meet 2026 targets

“This is a strong first half performance with progress against all key financial metrics we use to drive the business, demonstrating  continued momentum towards our 2026 targets. We are increasingly well placed to serve our customers’ retirement needs and create further customer and shareholder value as we fulfil our vision to become the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business.

We’ve strengthened our balance sheet and continued to invest in our market-leading Pensions and Savings and Retirement Solutions businesses. Our strategic delivery includes moving ahead with our advice proposition and in-housing the management of annuity-backing assets to benefit from our scaled asset management capabilities. We support c.12 million customers in managing over £295 billion in assets under administration.

Changing our name from Phoenix Group Holdings plc to Standard Life plc in March 2026 brings our most trusted brand to the forefront and demonstrates our commitment to helping customers secure a better retirement.”

Andy Briggs, Group Chief Executive Officer 

Strong H1 2025 financial performance

 

30 June 2025

Comparative

% change

Operating Cash Generation1
Total cash generation2

£705m
£784m

(H1 2024: £647m)
(H1 2024: £950m)

+9%
-17%

Shareholder Capital Coverage Ratio3
Solvency II (‘SII’) surplus
SII leverage ratio4

175%
£3.6bn
34%

(FY 2024: 172%)
(FY 2024: £3.5bn)
(FY 2024: 36%)

+3pp
+2%
-2pp

IFRS adjusted operating profit
Cumulative annual run-rate cost savings delivered
IFRS loss after tax
IFRS adjusted shareholders’ equity

£451m
£100m
£(156)m
£3,443m

(H1 2024: £360m)
(FY 2024: £63m)
(H1 2024: £(646)m)
(FY 2024: £3,656m

+25%
N/A
+76%
-6%

2025 Interim dividend

27.35pps

(H1 2024: 26.65pps)

+2.6%

Continued operating momentum in core businesses

Pensions and Savings: successfully growing our capital-light fee-based business

  • 20% IFRS adjusted operating profit growth to £179m
  • 5% growth in average assets under administration (‘AUA’) to £187.9bn
  • 2bps improvement in margin to 19bps driven by cost efficiencies
  • Workplace net inflows of £2.8bn (H1 2024: £3.3bn) comprised £4.9bn gross inflows; H1 2024 included a £0.9bn one-off bulk win; solid pipeline for H2    
  • Retail net outflows improved to £4.4bn (H1 2024: £4.6bn) reflecting retail strategy green shoots

Retirement Solutions: strong growth in operating profit and solid pipeline for H2

  • 36% IFRS adjusted operating profit growth in our capital-utilising spread-based business to £286m, reflecting higher portfolio enhancement actions and cost discipline
  • Group CSM (gross of tax) grew 10% to £3,567m (FY 2024: £3,257m)
  • £0.3bn BPA volumes written in HY 2025 reflecting selective pricing in a competitive market
  • £3.2bn BPA volumes completed and exclusive on year to date at c.3% capital strain5 and our largest ever deal of £1.9bn completed in July.
  • £0.6bn individual annuity premiums written (HY 2024: £0.5bn)
  • Continue to expect to deploy up to c.£200m of capital into annuities in 2025 

Progress across all strategic priorities

Grow: meeting more of our existing customer needs and acquiring new ones

  • Progressed customer engagement tools
    • Received FCA approval for our own in-house Retail advice proposition, a key milestone and enables imminent launch
    • Launched Annuity Desk for Standard Life customers to support a digital customer experience 
  • Enhanced product build-out
    • Completed our portfolio of innovative retirement income solution products with the launch of the Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan
    • Innovated BPA solutions through longevity insurance novations making our BPA proposition more attractive to customers

Optimise: optimising our in-force business and balance sheet

  • Evolving management of our annuity-backing assets to a predominantly in-house model by leveraging our scaled asset management capabilities to optimise customer outcomes and enhance returns  
    • We are now managing £5bn of our £39bn annuities portfolio in-house, and are currently preparing to in-house a further c.£20bn
    • Underpins our ability to deliver recurring management actions and delivers cost savings
  • Excess cash generation has enabled further deleveraging
    • $250m debt repaid in February
    • £294m recurring management actions delivered in HY 2025 (HY 2024: £264m) 

Enhance: transforming our operating model and culture

  • Cumulative cost savings increased to £100m with FY2025 expectations of c.£160m, reflecting a £35m acceleration  
    • Progressing our migrations to TCS BaNCS platform; 0.8m policies migrated in HY 2025
    • Entered into strategic partnership with Wipro to manage 1.9m policies   

Outlook

  • Firmly on track to deliver all our financial targets which support our progressive and sustainable dividend policy6
  • Continued execution on strategic priorities, with a focus on customer engagement
  • Move to Standard Life plc in March 2026 brings our most trusted brand to the forefront and supports our organic growth strategy 

 

 

Firmly on track across all financial targets

 

Financial target

Progress to date

Cash

  • Mid-single digit percentage growth p.a. in Operating Cash Generation1

On track

  • 9% growth year-on-year in HY 2025
  • Total Cash Generation2 3-year target of £5.1 billion across 2024–26

On track

  • 50% achieved / £2.6 billion achieved
Capital
  • Operate within our 140–180% Shareholder Capital Coverage Ratio3 operating range

On track

  • 175% at end of HY 2025
  • SII leverage ratio4 of c.30% by the end of 2026

On track

  • 2% point improvement to 34% in HY 2025

Earnings

  • c.£1.1 billion of IFRS adjusted operating profit in 2026

On track

  • 25% growth year-on-year in HY 2025
  • £250 million of annual run-rate cost savings by the end of 2026

On track

  • £100m run-rate savings achieved

Information required under the Disclosure Guidance & Transparency Rules (‘DTR’)

 

Information required to be communicated in unedited full text, in accordance with DTR 6.3.5R(1A), is included in the Interim Report.

In accordance with UK Listing Rule 6.4.1, a copy of the Interim Report has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

The document may also be accessed via the Phoenix Group website at: https://www.thephoenixgroup.com/investors/results-reports-and-presentations/

 

Enquiries

Investors/analysts:

Claire Hawkins, Director of Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations, Phoenix Group
+44 (0)20 4559 3161

Joanne Roberts, Investor Relations Director, Phoenix Group
+44 (0)20 4559 4673

Media:

Tom Blackwell, FTI Consulting
+44 (0)7515 597 866

Shellie Wells, Corporate Communications Director, Phoenix Group
+44 (0)20 4559 3031

 

Presentation and webcast details

There will be a live virtual presentation for analysts and investors today starting at 09:30 (BST). You can register for the live webcast at: Phoenix Group 2025 half year results 

A copy of the presentation and a detailed financial supplement will be available at: 
https://www.thephoenixgroup.com/investors/results-reports-and-presentations/

A replay of the presentation and transcript will also be available on our website following the event.

There will also be an additional Q&A event aimed at retail investors, hosted by Andy Briggs, Group CEO, and Nicolaos Nicandrou, Group CFO, following a replay of the Group’s Investor Presentation, via Investor Meet Company on 11 September 2025, starting at 15:30 (BST).

The Investor Meet Company presentation and Q&A is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 10 September 2025, 09:00 (BST), or at any time during the event.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Phoenix Group Holdings plc via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/phoenix-group-holdings-plc/register-investor

 

Dividend details 

The declared 2025 Interim dividend of 27.35 pence per share is expected to be paid on 30 October 2025.

The ordinary shares will be quoted ex-dividend on the London Stock Exchange as of 25 September 2025. The record date for eligibility for payment will be 26 September 2025.

 

Footnotes

  1. Operating Cash Generation (‘OCG’) represents the sustainable level of ongoing cash generation from our underlying business operations, that is remitted from our Life Companies to the Group.

  2. Total cash generation represents the total cash remitted from the operating entities to the Group, comprising OCG, non-recurring management actions and the release of free surplus above capital requirements in the Life Companies.

  3. The Shareholder Capital Coverage Ratio excludes Solvency II Own Funds and Solvency Capital Requirements of unsupported With-Profit funds and unsupported pension schemes.

  4. Solvency II leverage ratio calculation = debt (all debt including RT1) / SII regulatory Own Funds. Ratio allows for currency hedges over foreign currency denominated debt.

  5. Annuity capital strain on a Post Capital Management Policy basis.

  6. The Board will continue to prioritise the sustainability of our dividend over the long term. Future dividends and annual increases will be subject to the discretion of the Board, following assessment of longer-term affordability. At 31 December 2024, distributable reserves at Phoenix Group Holdings plc, the Group’s holding company that pays dividends to shareholders, stood at £5,571 million (FY 2023: £4,632 million), supported by sizeable distributions from its main operating subsidiaries which continue to report under UK GAAP and carry significant distributable reserves. In 2024 the Group’s main operating subsidiaries generated strong UK GAAP net profits after covering hedging, which supported the cash remittances to Group. In the consolidated IFRS financial statements, the Group is targeting a positive pre-hedge post-dividend IFRS net profit contribution to the IFRS shareholders’ equity. The Group accepts the hedge-related volatility that impacts IFRS shareholders’ equity, which is a known consequence of our Solvency II hedging strategy that is designed to protect our cash, capital and dividend. In this overall context and consistent with previous guidance, the Board considers that the Group’s consolidated IFRS shareholders’ equity is not a constraint to the payment of our dividends.

Disclaimers

This announcement in relation to Phoenix Group Holdings plc and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) contains, and the Group may make other statements (verbal or otherwise) containing, forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical data about the Group’s current plans, goals, targets, ambitions, outlook, guidance and expectations relating to future financial condition, performance, results, strategy and/or objectives.

Statements containing the words: ‘believes’, ‘intends’, ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘should’, ‘expects’, ‘plans’, ‘aims’, ‘seeks’, ‘targets’, ‘continues’ and ‘anticipates’ or other words of similar meaning are forward looking. Such forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical data involve known and unknown risks and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances that are beyond the Group’s control. For example, certain insurance risk disclosures are dependent on the Group’s choices about assumptions and models, which by their nature are estimates. As such, actual future gains and losses could differ materially from those that the Group has estimated.

Other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: domestic and global economic, political, social, environmental and business conditions; asset prices; market-related risks such as fluctuations in investment yields, interest rates and exchange rates, the potential for a sustained low-interest rate or high interest rate environment, and the performance of financial or credit markets generally; the regulations, policies and actions of governmental and/or regulatory authorities including, for example, climate change and the effect of the UK’s version of the ‘Solvency II’ regulations on the Group’s capital maintenance requirements; developments in the UK’s relationship with the European Union; the direct and indirect consequences of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East for European and global macroeconomic conditions, and related or other geopolitical conflicts; political uncertainty and instability including the rise in protectionist measures; the impact of changing inflation rates (including high inflation) and/or deflation; information technology (including Artificial Intelligence) or data security breaches (including the Group being subject to cyber-attacks); the development of standards and interpretations including evolving practices in sustainability and climate reporting with regard to the interpretation and application of accounting; the limitation of climate scenario analysis and the models that analyse them; lack of transparency and comparability of climate-related forward-looking methodologies; climate change and a transition to a low-carbon economy (including the risk that the Group may not achieve its targets); the Group’s ability along with governments and other stakeholders to measure, manage and mitigate the impacts of climate change effectively; market competition; changes in assumptions in pricing and reserving for insurance business (particularly with regard to mortality and morbidity trends, gender pricing and lapse rates); the timing, impact and other uncertainties of any acquisitions, disposals or other strategic transactions; risks associated with arrangements with third parties; inability of reinsurers to meet obligations or unavailability of reinsurance coverage; and the impact of changes in capital, and implementing changes in IFRS 17 or any other regulatory, solvency and/or accounting standards, and tax and other legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions in which members of the Group operate. 

As a result, the Group’s actual future financial condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals, targets, ambitions, outlook, guidance and expectations set out in the forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical data within this announcement. The information in this announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to buy securities in Phoenix Group Holdings plc or an invitation or inducement to engage in any other investment activities. The Group undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements or data contained within this announcement or any other forward-looking statements or data it may make or publish. Nothing in this announcement constitutes, nor should it be construed as, a profit forecast or estimate. No representation is made that any of these statements will come to pass or that any future results will be achieved. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.