(Reuters) – British life insurer Phoenix Group posted a marginal rise in its half-yearly adjusted operating profit on Thursday, driven by steady demand for its corporate pension scheme insurance.
Phoenix, which has historically specialised in managing books of life insurance businesses that are closed to new customers, reported an adjusted operating profit for the half year ended June 30 of 266 million pounds ($322.87 million), compared with 254 million pounds in the year-ago period.
Last week, CEO Andy Briggs told Reuters he expects the bulk annuity market – which insures company-defined benefits, or final salary and pension schemes – to grow to a record of more than 40 billion pounds this year as higher interest rates make it more affordable.
($1 = 0.8239 pounds)
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
