Hastings, G4S and Legal & General

Blue-chips were down in early trading following falls in Asian markets and mixed sentiment on Wall Street with investors continuing to worry about Chinese growth,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

Fast-growing general insurer Hastings maintained its momentum in the first half with adjusted operating profits up 22% following a sustained increase in the number of ‘live’ customer policies. The group continues to increase its market share maintaining a robust underwriting discipline by investing in its digital and data-driven model to ensure that it prices business in an agile and responsive manner. This has kept the loss ratio to 73.4%, which is below its target range of between 75% and 79%. The group’s shares were up by more than 1.5% in early trading.

Security group G4S was an early faller despite an increase in first half revenues and earnings. Growth slowed in the second quarter but the group expects to meet its full year targets. The group is also making progress with its restructuring plans while continuing to invest in strengthening its sales operations and new products and services. The group’s shares were down by more than 4.6%. 

Legal & General had a strong first half with pre-tax profits up 41% at £1.2bn and it remains bullish despite noting some structural weaknesses in the UK economy. Its confidence is underpinned by increasing access to global growth opportunities. L&G is replicating its successful UK model with measured expansion in the US, where it is seeing increasing customer acceptance and an ever improving financial performance. L&G’s shares were down by over 1.1%.” 

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.