Just Retirement profits buoyant despite 'weak' annuity sales

The annuity provider said IFRS operating profit was up 2% to £80m. Total new business sales were £1.751m, up 6%. It said defined benefit (DB) de-risking and strong lifetime mortgage sales helped offset "weak individual annuity sales post-Budget". It added individually underwritten annuity activity levels have settled at slightly below half of pre-Budget levels. Rodney Cook, group chief executive, said: "This was a year of extraordinary highs and lows. The successful completion of our IPO and the strong momentum our model delivered in the first nine months of the year were overshado...