LONDON (Reuters) - British annuity provider Just Retirement (L:JRG) posted an 11 percent fall in underlying pre-tax profit for its 2014/2015 financial year ahead of an agreed $1 billion acquisition of rival Partnership Assurance (L:PA).
IFR underlying operating profit before tax was 86.4 million pounds for the financial year ended June 30, the firm said on Thursday, above a company-supplied consensus forecast of 66 million.
Total new business sales for the year were 1.1 billion pounds, down 9.9 percent.
British pension reform has dented Just Retirement's sale of individual annuities, as retirees no longer need to buy these income-bearing products with their pension pots.
Just Retirement said last month it would buy Partnership for 669 million pounds, hoping greater scale and a stronger capital position will help it cope with the changes that have rocked the industry.
The firm said it would pay a final dividend of 2.2 pence per share and total dividend of 3.3 pence.