European life and pensions consolidator Chesnara boosted its cash generation by 26% to £37m in the first half of 2025, up from £29m the same time last year, as the firm readies itself for further M&A.
Chesnara’s eligible own funds dropped to £632m from £643m in 2024 but the Solvency II Coverage Ratio increased to 207% from 203%.
The group said this is “materially above the upper end of the group's operating range” and provides “significant headroom to allocate capital to M&A and other growth opportunities.”
The strong results also led to a proposed increase in the interim dividend of 3% to 7.7pence per share, meaning the period of uninterrupted dividend growth is more than 20 years.
On 3 July Chesnara announced the proposed acquisition of HSBC Life (UK), which is set to add approximately £4bn in AuA and around 454,000 policies, bringing the group's total expected AuA to £18bn and policies to approximately 1.4 million.
The group also completed the legal merger of its Dutch businesses on 2 July 2025, with the aim of generating cost savings and the potential for future synergies.
On 18 August, Chesnara was admitted to the FTSE 250 Index.
Steve Murray, group CEO, said: “We have made significant progress against our strategy, announcing the acquisition of HSBC Life (UK). This is a transformational deal, supporting a planned one-year step-up in the dividend and reinforcing sustainable long-term growth.
“Looking ahead, we are strongly positioned with the financial firepower and track record to execute on our active pipeline of opportunities."
