Royal London upbeat despite £236m first half loss

For the six months to June 2008, operating profit before tax was up 30pc to £100m, total new life and pensions business rose 6pc to £1,064m, while new business dipped by 8pc, to £23m. In the same period in 2007, the group reported a profit of £305m. Despite the loss, Mike Yardley, group chief executive, said these were a "solid set of results in a very difficult market". He added: "EEV operating profit, the key indicator of our performance, is up 30pc. The loss after tax is a reflection of investment markets where, along with every other insurance company, we had significant negative ...