Royal London Ireland profits double as new business grows to €359m

Pensions and investments firm reports profits of €11.9m in 2024

Royal London Ireland chief executive Noel Freeley said the company achieved a 29% growth in new business in Ireland to €359m. 

Pensions and investments firm Royal London saw operating profits in Ireland double to £10m (€11.9m) in 2024, boosted by a 29% growth in sales of its protection and pensions products.

The company offers its products in Ireland through financial brokers, and sales in the Irish market climbed to £297m (€359m) in 2024, from £233m (€277m) in 2023, the company reported on Friday.  Protection protection new business sales for 2024 were £188m (€233m) from £179m (€213m) in 2023.

Royal London Ireland paid out 98% of claims in 2024, at a cost of £49m (€58m). Royal London Ireland chief executive also noted the company launched a new PRSA product for the Irish market in November, while it has also reported increased uptake of its ValueShare profit share product.

"We achieved a 29% growth in new business sales to €359m," said Royal London Ireland chief executive Noel Freeley. "We were proud to be recognised again for our service excellence and our overall proposition with numerous awards including, for the third consecutive year, the winner of the prestigious overall financial services excellence award from Brokers Ireland.

“We reached our second full year in the pension market and in April, we announced our second ValueShare award resulting in a boost to customers’ pensions policies, on top of their investment returns, with an average uplift of €174 for all those eligible.

"We believe the holistic product, fund, service and systems of our pensions proposition competes very strongly with traditional providers’ offerings."

Overall, the Irish sales increase helped Royal London added to the wider group reporting higher earnings for the year, with an operating pre-tax profit of £277m (€329m), with wage rises helping to boost pension savings. 

Millions of Royal London customers in the UK and Ireland will share payouts totalling £181m (€215m). Royal London has a mutual structure - it is owned by individual customers rather than shareholders or investors. This means it will distribute £181m back to eligible customers through a profit share scheme.