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2009 was a year in which we set ourselves challenging targets and were successful in exceeding them... comprehensively.
We set a target to deliver £450 million of net cash from our UK businesses in 2009. We had achieved this target by the end of the third quarter of the year.
In 2009 a number of steps were taken to cut costs.
An annualised cost savings target of £50 million was this was also exceeded.
Our IFRS operating profit increased from £592 million in 2008 to £1.1 billion in 2009.
This reflects the significant growth in net cash generated by the businesses this year.
We achieved these results by increasing the efficiency of our businesses and concentrating our new business activity in markets we consider to offer the most potential in the future.
Despite difficult market conditions worldwide new business APE only fell by seven percent, at £1.38 billion compared to £1.48 billion in 2008. We are also making good progress internationally.
In 2009 we successfully launched our joint ventures in the Gulf and India.
Our financial strength and improved profitability place us in a strong position to continue the transformation of our business going forward.
These results show that Legal & General has the quality of business, quality of people coupled with the financial strength to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge.