Aegon UK has reported a 57% year-on-year increase in its third-quarter operating profit, reaching £44m.
The Edinburgh-based financial services firm said that the rise was driven by higher fee revenues resulting from “favourable” equity markets, a provision release and decreased expenses.
For the three months to 30 September, net outflows reached £2.5bn, compared to £1.3bn in the third quarter last year.
For the retail business, net outflows stood at £53m, compared to £420m during the same period in 2020. Aegon said that this improvement was the result of “stronger retail investor sentiment” and reflected investments made in the business.
Net outflows for the group’s institutional business reached £1.8bn, compared with the £1.3bn in the comparable quarter last year.
Mike Holliday-Williams, chief executive of Aegon UK, said that the business had made “good progress”, but stressed that there is “still a lot to do but we continue to invest in the business”.
Lard Friese, chief executive and chairman of the executive and management board, added: “In the third quarter of 2021, we continued to drive our transformation forward by delivering on our financial and strategic commitments.
“This quarter’s operating result reflects the benefit from addressable expense savings that we have achieved so far. We remain on track to deliver our target of €400m expense savings by 2023.
“To date, we have executed 684 out of 1,200 performance improvement initiatives, with expense initiatives representing the majority thereof.”
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