London, April 25, 2026, 20:03 BST
- Shares in Legal & General slipped after the FTSE 100 insurer moved to ex-dividend status for its 2025 final payout.
- Investors will face their next key decision on May 21, when shareholders vote on a capital reduction aimed at boosting distributable reserves.
- Legal & General’s dividend, buyback, and capital buffer stay in the spotlight as the stock shifts—this, after March results received a mixed market readout.
Legal & General Group Plc slipped on Friday, finishing at roughly 252p. The drop followed the stock’s ex-dividend adjustment—technical, but enough to turn attention back to the insurer’s capital-return ambitions. With markets closed, Hargreaves Lansdown quotes showed the shares at 252.60p/252.65p, off 0.61% on the day and marked ex-dividend.
Timing is key here. For 2025, Legal & General’s final dividend comes in at 15.67 pence per share, according to S&P Capital IQ data on MarketScreener. Investors looking to qualify need to own shares before the April 23 ex-dividend date; the record date follows on April 24, with payment scheduled for June 4.
With the dividend cut-off behind them, investors are eyeing both the May 21 Annual General Meeting and another General Meeting scheduled for that day. Legal & General notes the GM will address a proposed capital reduction—an accounting maneuver designed to boost reserves that could be used for dividends or other payouts to shareholders.
Legal & General Group is looking to shave roughly £1.05 billion from its share premium account and trim £24.6 million from the capital redemption reserve, according to its notice. That adjustment would boost retained earnings by £1.08 billion, but shareholders won’t be getting any cash back, there’s no impact to net assets, and the share count stays put, the filing said.
Legal & General is pushing to keep the spotlight on cash returns, unveiling a £1.2 billion share buyback alongside its 2025 results. Chief Executive António Simões, speaking in March, said the firm had achieved “meaningful progress in reshaping L&G,” describing it as “a sharper, more focused business.” Legal & General Group
Both bulls and bears could pick out what they wanted from the numbers. Legal & General posted a 6% increase in core operating profit, landing at £1.62 billion, with core operating EPS up 9%. The insurer’s pro forma Solvency II coverage ratio came in at 210%. That Solvency II figure is insurers’ standard gauge for capital reserves against regulatory needs.
Capital is still the stumbling block here. KBW’s William Hawkins wasn’t impressed, labeling the solvency outcome a “big miss,” the Financial Times reported. That leaves investors questioning if buybacks and dividends really make sense while the company tries to juggle growth investments and keep the balance sheet in check. Financial Times
The vote on capital reduction carries its share of risk. According to Legal & General’s notice, the proposal requires a green light from shareholders, court approval, and registration with the Registrar of Companies. Directors, for their part, retain the right to scrap the move if court conditions shift or if another event renders the measure unsuitable.
A minor service victory went largely unnoticed. On April 24, Pensions Age reported that Aviva, Legal & General, and Zurich picked up their inaugural Gold accreditations from the STAR programme, recognising improvements in transfer performance across pensions, savings, and investments. “Faster, more reliable transfer processes,” is how ABI’s Rob Yuille described the industry effort behind the awards. Pensions Age
The reason that peer comparison is relevant: Legal & General isn’t just offering yield. The group’s case is that it can expand across retirement, workplace savings, and asset management—while also matching big names like Aviva and Zurich on service and getting things done faster for customers.
The company still holds a leading spot in pension risk transfer, handling defined-benefit pension commitments offloaded by corporate plans. For 2025, Legal & General posted £11.8 billion in global pension risk-transfer transactions, with £10.4 billion coming out of the UK.
Right now, it comes down to this: does the stock’s yield make up for worries about capital and management follow-through? The dividend record date is already behind us. Investors will be watching May’s vote, then August’s interim numbers, for the next signals.
