IFRS & EEV Restatement 311204
Legal & General Group PLC
24 May 2005
Stock exchange /press release
Part A
24 May 2005
Legal & General Group Plc
Restatement of 2004 Full Year Results under
International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS') and
European Embedded Value ('EEV')
2004 IFRS restatement 2004 EEV restatement
IFRS MSSB EEV AP
Operating profit before tax £618m £608m £752m £789m
Profit attributable to
equity holders £451m £464m £849m £870m
Shareholders' equity £3,671m £3,376m £6,182m £6,116m
Contribution from new business* N/A N/A £276m £317m
* Contribution before tax from new worldwide life and pensions business
Legal & General Group Plc ('the Group') has today published the restatement of
its 2004 full year results under both IFRS and EEV bases. Andrew Palmer, Group
Director (Finance), commented: 'Phase 1 of IFRS has had a limited impact on our
results and financial strength. We believe that the EEV principles build
successfully on existing Achieved Profits reporting in the UK by providing
increased transparency and enhanced comparability between European insurers. The
EEV results show continued strength both in our capital base and profitability.'
IFRS
IFRS has replaced the existing Modified Statutory Solvency Basis of reporting in
the Group's consolidated results. The detailed results, which are attached in
Part B of this announcement, reflect the implementation of FRS27, 'Life
Assurance'.
Adoption of IFRS has resulted in a small increase in Shareholders' equity and a
minimal impact on profit. The underlying economics of the business are
unaffected, and there is, therefore, no impact on either dividend policy or
solvency.
Business classified as insurance or participating investment contracts will
continue to be accounted for under the existing basis until the International
Accounting Standards Board's ('IASB') completion of Phase 2 for insurers at a
date yet to be agreed. In accordance with the accounting standards issued by the
IASB, the Group's primary consolidated financial statements for the 2005 Interim
Results to be announced on 28 July will adopt the IFRS basis. Restated results
for the first half of 2004 on both IFRS and EEV bases will be published at that
time.
EEV
In view of the phased implementation of IFRS, the Group believes that investors
will continue to place considerable reliance on supplementary embedded value
information. For the 2005 Interim Results the Group will adopt the EEV
principles developed by the European CFO Forum.
These principles build on the strengths of the existing Achieved Profits
methodology and provide enhanced disclosure. They focus on specific allowance
for risk; firstly through the allocation of sufficient capital to the business
and a recognition of the cost of that capital, secondly through an explicit
allowance for financial options and guarantees and thirdly through the economic
assumptions, in particular in the establishment of the risk discount rate to
reflect the residual risks in the business.
Adoption of the EEV principles results in a 4% reduction in total embedded value
of the covered businesses to £5,505m. The new business margin for 2004 (new
business value added as a ratio of the present value of new business premiums)
was 4.6% reflecting the scale efficiencies of our UK business. A restatement of
the 2004 full year results is included as Part C of this announcement.
Enquiries to:
Investors:
Andrew Palmer, Group Director (Finance) 020 7528 6286
Peter Horsman, Head of Investor Relations 020 7528 6362
Media:
John Morgan, Head of Public Relations 020 7528 6213
Anthony Carlisle, Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571
07973 611888
Notes:
1. A copy of this announcement can be found in the News and Results
section of our Shareholder web site at http://investor.legalandgeneral.com/
releases.cfm
2. A presentation of the results will be made to analysts and fund
managers at Temple Court, 11 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4TP at 9.30
today. A webcast of the presentation to analysts and fund managers will be
available later today at http://investor.legalandgeneral.com/presentations.cfm
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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