Royal London pre-tax profit drops 45% as charge cap bites

Royal London has reported a 45% slump in pre-tax profit in H1, pointing to regulatory charges as a key contributor, while its wrap platform Ascentric saw new business slide 20%.

The group said EEV pre-tax profit from continuing operations fell to £139m in the first half of 2014, while on an IFRS basis pre-tax profit was down 49% to £136m. It said the government's move to introduce charge caps and other regulatory charges on DC group pension schemes had cost it £61m. Phil Loney (pictured), group chief executive of Royal London, said the "headline-grabbing" charge-capping and other reforms introduced by the government will have precisely the opposite consequence to that which is intended. "As the leading customer-owned insurer in the UK we firmly support th...