The Lemon Fool

Continued capital-light growth momentum

• General Insurance gross written premiums (GWP) up 13% at constant currency to £8.0bn. UK&I GWP up 15% and Canadian GWP up 11% at constant currency, both driven by strong rate, new business volumes and retention.

• Group undiscounted combined operating ratio (COR) was 96.3% (9M224: 94.2%), reflecting the impact of Q3 wildfires and other adverse weather in Canada, offset by continued rate increases and disciplined underwriting. On a discounted basis the Group COR was 92.5% (9M224: 93.1%).

• Protection & Health sales2, were up 23% with strong growth in Individual Protection, and in Health which was supported by higher corporate new business.

• Wealth net flows of £6.4bn represented 6%3 of opening assets under management, but were 9% lower than 9M22 due to the impact of the challenging market volatility on Platform. Workplace net flows were up 26% to £5.1bn (9M22: £4.1bn) driven by strong new business and the impact of wage inflation.

• Retirement sales2, were up 2% with higher BPA and Individual Annuity volumes. Year-to-date BPA volumes are
c.£5.5bn as at the date of this update.

• Q3 YTD baseline controllable costs5 of £2.0bn were down 1% versus 9M22. This reflects our strong focus on cost efficiency in an inflationary environment. We remain on track to deliver our £750m cost reduction target this year, a year earlier than planned.