London, March 20, 2026, 22:28 (GMT)
- Legal & General shares finished Friday at 236.3p, slipping roughly 2.1%. The FTSE 100 dropped 1.4%.
- The stock is trading roughly 15.5% under its Feb. 23 peak, with pressure mounting after last week’s disappointing profit and solvency numbers—even as the company launched a record £1.2 billion buyback.
- Investors have flipped from betting on rate cuts to bracing for potential Bank of England hikes, with renewed inflation jitters sparked by war-fueled energy price jumps.
Legal & General Group Plc wrapped up Friday’s session in London at 236.3 pence, slipping 2.1% from Thursday’s close. That was a steeper drop than the FTSE 100’s 1.4% slide, with UK stocks now on a three-week losing streak. Shares in the insurer and asset manager are down about 15.5% from the Feb. 23 high of 279.5p.
This is relevant now, with the stock still reeling from last week’s surprise. Back on March 11, shares plunged as L&G fell short on critical earnings and capital targets—despite rolling out its largest buyback to date. Then on Friday, a wider selloff hit as UK markets quickly shifted their rate outlook: higher, not lower.
L&G reported a 6% jump in 2025 core operating profit to 1.623 billion pounds, with core earnings per share up 9%. That said, its pro forma Solvency II coverage ratio dropped to 210% from 232%. Solvency II, the regulatory yardstick for insurers’ capital buffers, remains “very comfortable,” according to Chief Executive António Simões. He also confirmed plans to return 2.4 billion pounds to shareholders over the next year. Legal General Group
L&G kicked off its buyback on March 12, according to the company. This opening phase of the £1.2 billion plan covers up to £600 million. A filing from March 16 shows L&G bought back 2.99 million shares for cancellation during the first two trading days.
On Friday, a separate regulatory filing revealed that Simões’s recruitment award had vested. Out of the total, 120,226 shares were sold at 2.397203 pounds apiece to cover tax and national insurance, leaving 134,883 shares held. The disclosure was published after a week marked by the post-results selloff, adding another company notice to the pile.
L&G finds itself in a tricky spot: rivals are delivering more straightforward capital-return stories. Aviva logged a 25% profit surge this month and brought back its 350 million-pound buyback. M&G’s profit stayed flat but flows improved. L&G shares have barely budged since Simões stepped in at the start of 2024—meanwhile, Aviva has climbed about 44%, and the FTSE 100 is up 34%.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, called the day’s selloff “a little harsh,” adding he’s still “constructive about the path forward” with management moving to simplify the group. Still, the earnings miss and softer solvency figure kept investors’ attention, overshadowing the buyback announcement. Hargreaves Lansdown
The risk is clear enough. Should oil prices keep climbing and the Bank of England stick to its hawkish stance, L&G’s buyback and dividend might not do much to counter lingering concerns over capital strength or demand in its main pension-risk transfer, or bulk annuity, business—where companies offload final-salary pension liabilities to insurers. Traders are pricing in about a 70% shot at a quarter-point BoE hike by April and see as many as three hikes before year-end. Standard Life’s results earlier this week highlighted just how fast the market can react to any suggestion that bulk annuity volumes might slow. Danni Hewson at AJ Bell flagged the risk of “another inflation burn” for households if geopolitical shocks persist.
