Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 27, 2026
1 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleJust Group’s 2025 underlying operating profit plunged 39% to £305 million, hit by margin pressure and slow retirement income sales amid tough bulk annuity competition; Brookfield Wealth Solutions’ £2.4 billion takeover is expected to close in H1 2026.
Feb 27 (Reuters) - British retirement income specialist Just Group reported a 39% fall in its annual underlying operating profit on Friday, hurt by a sharp drop in new business margins and retirement income sales.
The results reflected the impact of an increasingly crowded bulk annuity market, where insurers take on the pension liabilities of corporate schemes, which intensified pricing competition particularly in the second half of the year.
The company had agreed to a 2.4-billion-pound ($3.23 billion) takeover deal by Canada's Brookfield Wealth Solutions in late July and expects the deal to close in the first half of 2026.
The group's underlying operating profit came in at 305 million pounds for the year ended December 31, compared to 504 million pounds a year earlier.
($1 = 0.7426 pounds)
(Reporting by Sri Hari N S in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Ronojoy Mazumdar)
A sharp drop in new business margins and soft retirement income sales amid intense competition in the bulk annuity market drove the 39 % fall in underlying operating profit.
Bulk annuities are deals where insurers take on pension liabilities from corporates; rising participant numbers increased competition and pressured pricing, especially in late 2025.
Brookfield Wealth Solutions agreed a £2.4 billion all-cash takeover of Just Group, expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.
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