Strategic Report | Governance | Financial Statements | 7
I am pleased to introduce Just Group plc’s 2023 Annual Report. Our Company has never been stronger. This is the second year in succession our performance has significantly exceeded the profit growth pledge we made two years ago. We have delivered sustainable growth of the business, helped more of our customers and increased value for shareholders. HELPING OUR CUSTOMERS The challenging economic events in the UK and around the world are having profound impacts on the lives of our customers and their families. In these uncertain times, our solutions provide reassuring certainty to our customers. As the retirement specialist we are doing all we can, during these difficult times, to help them and their families. Our customers, existing and prospective, are at the heart of everything we do at Just. OVERVIEW OF GROUP PERFORMANCE The primary focus of our Group in 2023 has been to capture profitable growth opportunities to ensure we meet our medium-term profit growth pledge. It has been a year of record growth, continued delivery, with successful strategic execution and ongoing investment. This has resulted in a strong balance sheet and financial performance, with exceptionally strong business momentum. The Group’s financial strength and performance have never been stronger, and both are set out in detail in the Business Review. DIVIDEND Given the Group’s performance, strong capital position and our confidence in the future prospects of the business, the Board has recommended a final ordinary dividend of 1.50 pence per share, resulting in a 2023 total dividend per share of 2.08p (2022: 1.73p). This represents a 20% increase on prior year, and is in line with our stated policy to grow the dividend over time. BOARD COMPOSITION AND GOVERNANCE We welcomed Mark Godson, our new Group Chief Financial Officer to Just in November and to the Board on 1 December. He is one of the top talents in the insurance market, bringing with him extensive commercial and financial insight gained from across the sector. I’d like to welcome Jim Brown as Independent Non-Executive Director, who joined the Board on 1 November 2023. He brings extensive experience of financial services leadership, and you can read Jim’s full biography on page 73. Andy Parsons, our outgoing Group Chief Financial Officer, started his retirement and stood down from the Board on 31 December. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Andy for his central role in building our financial strength which has allowed us to return to growth in recent years and face into the future with confidence. We all wish him a very healthy and happy retirement. Read more about the Directors of the Company on P72–74. I take great pride in leading the Board and the Group’s governance function, and my introduction to the Corporate Governance Report on page 70 provides further information on our governance and decision-making processes. We have an excellent team in place for the medium term, that will ensure the Company is effectively governed and well led. I would like to thank the entire Board for their significant contribution and look forward to working with them over the coming year.
ACTING SUSTAINABLY Our industry has an important role to play in helping the world transition towards a sustainable environment and low carbon global economy. We are making good progress towards our goal to become carbon net zero. You can read our high-level transition plan on our Group website and this year’s Annual Report provides insight to our climate-related risks and opportunities. Our disclosures are consistent with those recommended by the Taskforce on Climate- related Financial Disclosures and you can read more on pages 40 to 49. Growing the Just Way is a theme our colleagues across the Company are active in shaping and the Board receives input from our colleagues. We are on an exciting journey as a Company, as an industry, as a country and as individuals. We are encouraged by the government’s reforms of the Solvency II regime, referred to as Solvency UK. When fully implemented these reforms could unlock billions of pounds of investment from insurers into the UK economy, contributing to the sustainability agenda, and enabling us to provide even more competitive products to our customers. Read more about our sustainability strategy on P34 and at justgroupplc.co.uk . ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS The Board engages directly and indirectly with our customers, shareholders, colleagues, regulators, legislators, professional bodies and wider society to promote the interests of our customers more broadly. We place great importance on working effectively with these groups and actively seeking their feedback. We work hard to ensure our customers benefit from our services and our shareholders receive the benefit of long-term value creation. Throughout this report you can read how the Board takes into consideration feedback from the Company’s stakeholders and how the Board, and colleagues from across the Group, promote the success of the Company. PURPOSE DRIVEN We help people achieve a better later life, this is our purpose, it’s why we exist. We fulfil our purpose by delivering excellent products and services to our customers. Most people don’t get an opportunity to test drive their retirement. Organising finances when the regular salary cheques no longer arrive can be complex and create anxiety. We help people explore what their life after work could look like and provide help, guidance and advice so they have the confidence to take the next steps. We develop market-leading products and award-winning services so our customers achieve great outcomes. Our purpose remains as relevant today as it did all those years ago when we created it. It’s clear, authentic and it acts as a beacon for colleagues across the entire Group to live our purpose every day. OUTLOOK There are strong structural drivers of growth which make our markets attractive. The propensity of company directors and pension scheme trustees to transact with insurers to de-risk their defined benefit pension schemes has increased. We have focused our leadership team on driving long-term profitable growth. The commercial outlook remains favourable for our Group. On behalf of the Board, I would like to close by thanking David, his team and all of our colleagues across the Group for their commitment to helping our customers and doing such a great job. I’d also like to thank our business partners who have trusted us to provide outstanding service to their clients. We are helping our customers, building shareholder value through profitable and sustainable growth, fulfilling our purpose and helping contribute to a net zero economy. We are optimistic about the future.
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