Just Group’s retirement income sales increased by 15 per cent in 2018, its preliminary results report has revealed.

Its annual retirement income sales rose from £1.89bn in 2017, up to £2.17bn in 2018, contributing to its total business sales also increased by 15 per cent during the same period, from £2.46bn to £2.83bn.

The overall increase was partially due to a 32 per cent increase in DB sales in 2018, from nearly £1bn to £1.31bn, which the company attributes to the DB de-risking market growing significantly and its employee benefits consultants “actively managing the industry pipeline”.

Lifetime mortgage advances also rose, by 18 per cent, from £0.51bn to £0.6bn, as the lifetime mortgage market “continued to grow, driven by increased demand from consumers and increased supply from insurers”.

Furthermore, its care plan sales increased slightly, from £0.071bn to £0.073bn.

Despite the increases, Just Group’s guaranteed income for life solutions sales decreased by 4 per cent, from £0.82bn to £0.77bn, while its drawdown sales fell slightly, by £200,000 to just above £0.05bn.

Just Group operated a DC pension scheme, which cost charge for the year amounted to £4.3m.

Commenting on the report, Just Group group chief executive, Rodney Cook said: "2018 has been a year of contrasts.

“We have achieved significant new business profit growth, strong margins and higher sales despite significant uncertainty during the Prudential Regulation Authority's consultation into equity release mortgages.

“I want to acknowledge the challenges our shareholders have faced during this period and to assure them we remain focused on delivering value for them by developing our highly effective new business franchise.

“We operate in highly attractive growth markets in which we hold leadership positions and despite the challenging current macro environment we remain confident of the outlook for our group."

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