Upgrade of near-term cash generation targets

Phoenix Group Holdings PLC

13 November 2023

 

LEI: 2138001P49OLAEU33T68

This announcement constitutes inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation no 596/2014 which is part of English law by virtue of the European (withdrawal) act 2018, as amended.

Phoenix Group upgrades near-term cash generation targets on completion of funds merger through a Part VII transfer

·    Funds merger through a Part VII transfer of Standard Life and Phoenix Life businesses into a single entity completed

·    Leads to a material one-off upgrade to the Group's 2023 cash generation target from £1.3-to-1.4bn to c.£1.8bn; the Group's three-year cash generation target consequently increases from £4.1bn to £4.5bn across 2023-2025

·    Increased cash generation targets create further balance sheet optionality for the Group

Commenting on the announcement, Phoenix Group CEO, Andy Briggs said:

"The completion of the funds merger of the Standard Life and Phoenix Life businesses into Phoenix Life Limited, bringing together 8 million policies, is one of the largest UK insurance Part VII transfers ever completed. This reaffirms Phoenix Group's position as the UK's leader at delivering cost and capital synergies and generating value for customers and shareholders. This funds merger enables us to materially upgrade our cash generation targets and creates further balance sheet optionality for the Group."

Phoenix Group Holdings plc ("Phoenix Group" or the "Group") today announces that it has completed the Part VII transfer of its Standard Life¹ and Phoenix Life Assurance Limited businesses into Phoenix Life Limited. This is one of the largest UK insurance Part VII transfers ever completed, bringing together the businesses of 4 legal entities, comprising c.8 million policies and c.£200 billion² of assets into a single entity.   

Executing our strategic priorities strengthens our competitive advantages of capital efficiency, customer access, and cost efficiency. Our strategic priority of 'enhancing our operating model and culture' is designed to support us in delivering leading cost efficiency and a modern organisation. The completion of these transfers marks the successful execution of a key action in support of this priority and supports our ambition of delivering a single best way of doing things for our customers.

The Part VII transfer creates additional free surplus within our life companies through the realisation of the diversification benefit associated with our internal model harmonisation management action completed in 2021, which enables the Group to announce the one-off upgrade of its near-term cash generation targets today.

The Group therefore now expects to deliver c.£1.8 billion of cash generation in 2023, a significant increase relative to our previous target range of £1.3-to-£1.4 billion. Consequently, the Group's three-year cash generation target across 2023-2025 is also increased to £4.5 billion, up from £4.1 billion previously.

As a result, the Group expects to have significant surplus cash at its holding company at the end of 2023, which creates further balance sheet optionality.

Phoenix Group looks forward to presenting an evolved financial framework with enhanced disclosures and an update on capital allocation in the near term, alongside its Full Year 2023 results announcement in March 2024.

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The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Phoenix Group is Kulbinder Dosanjh, Group Company Secretary.

Enquiries

Investors/analysts:

Claire Hawkins, Director of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, Phoenix Group

[phone]

Andrew Downey, Investor Relations Director, Phoenix Group

[phone]

Media:

Douglas Campbell, Teneo

[phone]

Shellie Wells, Corporate Communications Director, Phoenix Group

[phone]

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Footnotes

¹ Standard Life refers to Standard Life Assurance Limited and Standard Life Pension Funds Limited.

2 Year end 2022 values

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Legal 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, 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 risk 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 policies and actions of governmental and/or regulatory authorities, including, for example, initiatives related to the financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the effect of the UK's version of the "Solvency II" regulations on the Group's capital maintenance requirements; the impact of changing inflation rates (including high inflation) and/or deflation; the medium and long-term political, legal, social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK's exit from the European Union; the direct and indirect consequences of the European and global macroeconomic conditions of the Russia-Ukraine War and related or other geopolitical conflicts; information technology or data security breaches (including the Group being subject to cyberattacks); the development of standards and interpretations including evolving practices in ESG 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); 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 proposed or future acquisitions, disposals or combinations within relevant industries; risks associated with arrangements with third parties; inability of reinsurers to meet obligations or unavailability of reinsurance coverage; 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, ambitions, outlook, guidance and expectations set out in the forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical data within this announcement. 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.

 

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