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Investing.com -- Legal & General (LON:LGEN) shares fell more than 2% on Wednesday after the insurer reported a weaker-than-expected Solvency II capital ratio of 217%, missing consensus by 3 percentage points.
The figure excludes a further 6-point drag attributed to temporary impacts from its non-retained U.S. business, which management said would unwind after a pending transaction completes.
The capital miss overshadowed stronger-than-expected financial results for the first half of 2025.
Core operating earnings per share rose 9%, hitting the top end of the company’s guidance and beating estimates by 4.2%.
Core operating profit exceeded forecasts by 5.3%, while total operating profit came in 2.5% higher than expected.
Segment performance was broadly positive. Institutional retirement results surpassed forecasts by 5.5%, retail by 4.4%, and asset management by 0.5%.
Operational surplus generation was 3.4% ahead of expectations. Dividend per share was in line with estimates.
Group debt costs were 2.8% above forecast, partly offset by group investment project expenses, which were 3.4% below expectations.
Non-core operations underperformed, with the non-retained U.S. business falling short by 40.5% and the corporate investment unit missing by 17.2%.
“On the other hand, we have to acknowledge that L&G not only benefitted from a relatively undemanding consensus (we expect the buy side is ahead),” said analysts at Jefferies in a note.