Just Retirement: The Government can't stop people getting older

Just Retirement has insisted that it is well-placed to ride out the Government’s radical pension reforms despite annuity sales at the company more than halving.

“It doesn’t matter how hard the Government tries, it can’t stop people getting older,” the annuity specialist’s chief executive Rodney Cook said.

It came as the company unveiled a 2pc rise in operating profits as better returns from defined benefit scheme deals and lifetime mortgage deals offset the drop in annuities, which George Osborne made optional at March’s budget.

The reforms knocked almost 50pc off Just Retirement’s shares only four months after its listing, and are forcing the company to shed more than 100 staff as part of a £14m cost saving programme.

Profits are expected to fall heavily next year and remain as annuity sales continue to slide, but Mr Cook said the group is investing heavily in new offerings to adapt to the changes.

“I assure you no-one is hiding from the fact that business is down… but we are at the right end of the market,” he said.

“We will be able to design products with greater flexibility… we want each of our customers to have an element of guaranteed income for life, they need to be sure they can pay the bills.”

Operating profits of £80m beat expectations, sending shares in the group up 1.2pc, although analysts at Panmure Gordon predicted this would fall to £59.4m next year before slowly recovering.

Just Retirement raised almost £300m in last November’s flotation, and still retains much of this with its plans being disrupted by the Budget changes. However, Mr Cook said the company would be waiting at least a year to decide whether to return some of this to shareholders.