London insurance company sees £436m profit up from £100m loss

A London insurance company has announced that its profit has increased by more than £400m.

Royal London, which provides life and pension insurance, saw profits before tax of £436m, up from a £111m loss in 2018.

The company said that the increase was due to strong returns on investment, but added that coronavirus represents a new risk for the business going forward.

Barry O’Dwyer, group chief executive, commented: “Royal London had a successful 2019 despite last year’s political and economic uncertainty.

“Our investment performance has been outstanding with 98 per cent of active funds outperforming their three-year benchmark.

“Together with our reputation for excellent customer service, this has helped to attract more new business and we have seen another year of extremely strong net inflows.

“Coronavirus represents a new risk for the world economy and therefore for our business.

“Our current priority is the health and wellbeing of our colleagues so that we can continue to deliver for customers and clients.

“Our robust capital position means we do not expect the virus to have any material long-term impact on our business.”