Insurer Legal & General hailed recent efforts to ramp up expansion plans as it posted a 13% hike in half-year profits and said annuity sales surged 44%.

A strong session for retail and financial stocks helped maintain gains on the London market today as UK stocks continued to recover recent lost ground.

Insurer Legal & General forecast a rebound in its core UK markets today after revealing a 7% drop in worldwide sales during 2009.

Insurer Legal & General was today set to boost its share of the DIY pensions market after offering £62m (€79.4m) for Ipswich-based Suffolk Life.

Insurer Legal & General today hailed a return of consumer confidence in financial products as it reported a marked rise in new business growth in the UK.