Legal & General (LGEN) chief executive António Simões has put the focus on share repurchases under his revamp of the group’s capital returns policy. L&G announced its first buyback for a decade soon after the new boss entered the fray in 2024, and the FTSE 100 insurance company is currently around £450mn through its latest £1.2bn programme.
In total, the group plans to return more than £5bn to investors between 2025 and 2027. On the dividend front, guidance is for growth of 2 per cent each year over that period, down from the 5 per cent growth recorded in 2024. This stalwart income stock still has a forward dividend yield of more than 7 per cent, however, even though growing challenges in its key pension risk transfer (PRT) market cast a small shadow over the business.