Just Group profit hit ahead of takeover by Brookfield Wealth Solutions
Just Group PLC on Friday reported a swing to a pretax loss for 2025, as it reiterated its timeline expectations for the Brookfield Wealth Solutions Ltd takeover.
The Reigate, Surrey-based provider of retirement income products reported a swing to a pretax loss of £118 million for 2025, from £113 million in profit in 2024.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit fell 75% to £120 million from £482 million, owing to a combination of lower underlying profit, strategic costs and investment and economic losses.
Just Group said that of this £120 million, £238 million of profit has been deferred to the Contractual Service Margin, resulting in an IFRS pretax loss.
Underlying operating profit fell 39% to £305 million from £504 million. Just Group attributed this to lower new business margins on lower sales, partially offset by higher recurring in-force profit.
Just Group reported a 15% increase in insurance revenue to £2.07 billion from £1.81 billion, and posted a swing to a £1.78 billion investment return from a £128 million loss.
However, it also reported a swing to £1.77 billion in net finance expenses from income of £480 million the prior year.
The company said its defined benefit division completed a single year industry record of 130 transactions, but wrote fewer medium-sized transactions compared to a year earlier.
As such, it said DB new business sales fell 28% to £3.1 billion.
Shares in the company rose marginally to 217.00 pence around midday on Friday in London.
Owing to the proximity of the takeover by Brookfield, Just Group said it was not recommending payment of a final dividend. Last month, the company affirmed that it expects its £2.4 billion takeover by Brookfield to be completed in the first half of 2026, and it reiterated this expectation on Friday.
‘The proposed combination with Brookfield Wealth Solutions will be a great outcome for customers, shareholders and our colleagues. It reflects the strength of the Just platform and the long-term value of the strategy we have developed. We look forward to building on our successful growth strategy and strong culture, as we enter this exciting next phase for Just,’ said Chief Executive David Richardson.
‘During 2025, our proactive approach to managing our capital resources, pricing discipline and risk selection meant that we deliberately reduced volume in what was an increasingly competitive Defined Benefit de-risking market. Industry analysts expect a rebound in the DB market in 2026, driven by renewed demand from sponsors and trustees, and our own pipeline supports this outlook. In addition, the retail guaranteed income market offers significant long-term growth potential in the decades ahead.’
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