RCS - Rothesay Life PLC - Rothesay Full-Year Trading Update 2024

Mondelez InternationalAnnouncement

27/03/2025 08:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250327:nRSa3916Ca&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3916C  Rothesay Life PLC  27 March 2025

 

27 March 2025

Full-Year Trading Update

Significant new business demonstrates strength of Rothesay's de-risking
capabilities

 

Rothesay, the UK's largest pensions insurance specialist, today provides an
update on its trading and financial performance for 2024.

 

·      New business: In total, Rothesay generated new business premiums
of £15.7bn in 2024 (2023: £12.7bn). Transactions included insuring £9.6bn
of liabilities with NatWest Group Pension Fund, the acquisition of Scottish
Widows' bulk annuity portfolio from Lloyds Banking Group and pension risk
transfers with four other pension schemes.

 

·      Market outlook: A buoyant but competitive bulk annuity market
driven by an ongoing desire from pension scheme trustees and corporate
sponsors to transfer their risk continues to create considerable new business
opportunities. In 2024, Rothesay was engaged in pricing its largest ever
number of individual pension risk transfer transactions and it expects a
similar level of activity over 2025. Rothesay's substantial capital resources
combined with the proven strength of its execution capabilities mean it
remains well-placed to complete some of the largest and most innovative
transactions in the market while maintaining pricing discipline and the
Group's cautious approach to risk management.

 

·      Assets & liabilities: Assets under management increased to
£70.7bn (2023: £61.0bn) at 31st December 2024. Rothesay now secures the
pensions of over one million people and makes £3.8bn in annual payments to
its policyholders.

 

·      Solvency: The Group's solvency position continues to be very
strong, with a Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) coverage ratio of 261% at
31st December 2024 (2023: 273%). Surplus capital of £5.3bn (2023: £5.4bn)
means that Rothesay is well-placed for future growth. The Group also
successfully executed two subordinated debt issuances with a combined value of
approximately £750m in June 2024 (£500m of Tier 2 debt in the sterling
market and an inaugural $325m of Tier 2 debt raised in the US dollar market).
This allowed the Group to efficiently refinance £400m of existing
subordinated debt, which was repaid on 17th September 2024, whilst further
supporting its ability to execute substantial volumes of future new business.

 

·      Financial performance: The Group generated adjusted operating
profits of £1,779m (2023: £1,358m) and pre-tax IFRS profits of £113m (2023:
£906m).

 

·      Market consistent embedded value (MCEV): Rothesay's MCEV at 31st
December 2024 was £7.7bn (2023: £7.5bn). Substantial gains driven from new
business and investment performance were partially offset by the impact of
interest rates. Further gains are expected as the assets relating to these new
business transactions continue to be invested in line with Rothesay's
long-term investment strategy.

 

·      Dividend: In October 2024, Rothesay paid an interim dividend of
£361m or 23p per share.

 

·      Shareholders: Rothesay's two shareholders, GIC and MassMutual,
provide the Group with exceptional long-term support. GIC decided to reinvest
the interim dividend paid by Rothesay in 2023 into the business. Following
this reinvestment, GIC is now a 50.2% shareholder in Rothesay (2023: 48.9%)
and MassMutual is a 47.6% shareholder (2023: 48.9%). GIC and MassMutual retain
equal governance rights, including an equal number of Board Director positions
and both remain committed to providing primary capital should the company
require it for significant growth opportunities.

 

·      Risk management: Rothesay's long-term investment in
market-leading risk management systems, combined with its comprehensive
liquidity risk management framework, meant that the Group's solvency and
liquidity position remained very strong in 2024. The Group operates a
cautious, long-term investment strategy which seeks to diversify exposure and
reduce risk, generating the dependable returns that create real security for
our policyholders' pensions.

 

·      Credit ratings: Rothesay Life Plc has a Fitch Insurer Financial
Strength Rating of A+ (Strong) and a Moody's Insurance Financial Strength
Rating of A2. The rating outlook is stable from both.

 

·      Customer service excellence & industry recognition: Rothesay
continues to meet the highest standards of consumer protection as set out in
the Consumer Duty regulation. The Group maintained very high customer service
standards during the year, with over 96% (2023: 94%) of customers rating the
quality of service received as good or excellent. Rothesay's commitment to
deliver excellent customer service continues to be recognised by the Pension
Administration Standards Association which re-accredited the Group with its
Gold Standard. Rothesay was also proud to win Insurance Company of the Year at
the Insurance Asset Management Awards for the third year in a row.

 

·      Investing in our people: Rothesay recruited new talent throughout
the year, with employee numbers increasing to 539 (2023: 460). The Group added
two new floors to its office space in 2024 to provide employees with further
opportunities for collaboration.

 

·      ESG & productive investment: Rothesay's MSCI Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) rating has been upgraded to AAA (2023: AA), the
highest possible rating. The Group is committed to transitioning its
investment portfolio to Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and
published a new commitment this year to achieve a 50% Carbon Intensity
reduction across its total investment portfolio by 2030. In total, Rothesay
has invested £29.1bn in companies and projects that benefit the UK, such as
transport, infrastructure, education and social housing. Rothesay is also a
signatory to the Financial Reporting Council's UK Stewardship Code.

 

·      Title Partner of Test Cricket: Rothesay announced a new
multi-year partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the
national governing body of cricket. Through the partnership, Rothesay became
the Official Title Partner of Test Cricket, launching the 'Rothesay Test
Series'. Rothesay is also an Official Partner of the ECB & England
Cricket, Official Partner of England Women's Cricket and title sponsor of the
County Championship. Rothesay is proud to partner with the ECB to support the
future of cricket and inspire all generations by making cricket a game for
everyone.

 

·      The Rothesay Foundation: Along with a number of other initiatives
it supported to help the vulnerable elderly, the Rothesay Foundation provided
£2.5m to Age UK to significantly expand its flagship national benefits check
service. The funding will allow Age UK to help an additional 11,000 pensioners
unlock £55m of annual benefits they are entitled to and support the
Government's campaign to raise public awareness of these benefits.

 

Tom Pearce, Chief Executive Officer of Rothesay, said: "Rothesay achieved
another strong year of growth, delivering significant volumes of new business.
This positive momentum is testament to our proven execution capabilities,
substantial capital resources and the support from our two long-term
shareholders.

 

As we head into 2025, a busy and competitive pension risk transfer market is
already generating an exciting pipeline of potential new business
opportunities. We continue to innovate and invest across our business to
enable us to complete the largest and most sophisticated transactions in our
market while maintaining pricing discipline and our cautious approach to risk
management. Rothesay is purpose-built to protect pensions and we are proud to
secure the future for over one million policyholders and deliver on our
commitment to provide the highest levels of customer service."

 

The Group's solvency metrics as at 31(st) December 2024 are summarised in the
table below:

 

                                 Group  Rothesay Life Plc

                                 £m     £m
 Own funds eligible to meet SCR  8,525  8,628
 SCR                             3,262  3,262
 Surplus above SCR               5,263  5,366
 SCR coverage                    261%   264%

 

ENDS

 

Media Contacts

Rothesay: Anthony Marlowe, Head of Communications & Public Affairs

0207 550 0687 or anthony.marlowe@rothesay.com
(mailto:anthony.marlowe@rothesay.com)

Temple Bar Advisory: Alex Child-Villiers +44 (0)7795 425580 or Sam Livingstone
+44 (0)7769 655437 or rothesay@templebaradvisory.com
(mailto:rothesay@templebaradvisory.com)

 

Notes to Editors

About Rothesay

Rothesay is the UK's largest pensions insurance specialist, purpose-built to
protect pension schemes and their members' pensions. With over £70 billion of
assets under management, we secure the pensions of more than one million
people and pay out, on average, over £300 million in pension payments each
month.

 

Rothesay is dedicated to providing excellence in customer service alongside
prudent underwriting, a conservative investment strategy and the careful
management of risk. We are trusted by the pension schemes of some of the UK's
best known companies to provide pension solutions, including British Airways,
Cadbury's, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Co-operative Group, National
Grid, Morrisons and Telent.

 

Rothesay has two substantial institutional shareholders, GIC and Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Company ("MassMutual"), who provide the company with
long-term support for its growth and development.

 

Rothesay refers to Rothesay Limited and its subsidiaries and is the trading
name for Rothesay Life Plc, an insurance company authorised by the Prudential
Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the
Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm Reference Number: 466067. Rothesay Life
Plc is registered in England and Wales with company registration number:
06127279 and registered address: Rothesay Life Plc, The Post Building, 100
Museum Street, London WC1A 1PB. Further information is available at
www.rothesay.com (http://www.rothesay.com)

 

 

 

This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  NRAKQLFLEXLFBBK