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

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 pension charge caps and other regulatory charges on defined contribution 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...