Joy for insurer LV as loss turns into £107m profit
LV’s CEO yesterday praised “strong” fundamentals as the company returned to profit for the first time since fending off a takeover by a US private equity predator.
The insurer reported a pre-tax profit of £107m for 2023 – after a £145m loss in 2022 – while also paying out more than £30m to mutual society members.
The results justify the fight – led by the Mail – to prevent LV from falling into the hands of Bain Capital.
Boss David Hynam said: ‘The outlook for LV remains positive and the fundamentals of the business are strong.
‘We have continued to evolve and evolve the business in line with our strengths and core values. As a result of our focused business strategy, we achieved profits this year.”
In a good sign, LV reported pre-tax profits of £107 million for 2023 – after a £145 million loss in 2022 – while also paying out more than £30 million to mutual society members.
Formerly known as Liverpool Victoria, the company was founded in Liverpool in 1843 to help the city’s poor pay for a decent funeral.
The mutual structure means that it is run for the benefit of the customers and not for the benefit of a profit-hungry investor.
Since 2011, it has shared member bonuses of £385m. That status was threatened when former CEO Mark Hartigan tried to sell it to Bain for £530 million. He claimed at the time: ‘It is the only deal that will secure our future.’
But campaigners and politicians from all sides united to condemn the move and the deal collapsed at the end of 2021 when it failed to secure sufficient support from its more than 1 million members.
Hynam took over in September 2022 and promised to lead the mutual into a ‘new era’.
LV’s latest results show a 47 percent increase in sales of annuities – financial products purchased with retirement savings that pay out a regular guaranteed income for a fixed period or for life.
Hynam said there was increased demand for fixed-term annuities as interest rates remain high. But he added that the mutual fund was “not immune to the turmoil gripping the sector and the wider economy”, with lower-than-planned sales in certain types of investment funds.