Annuity and retirement specialist Just Group said operating profits climbed 44% to £249m in the first six months of the year to the end of June.

In a confident stock market update it said it will “substantially exceed” its full-year profit target following a surge in corporate pension deals.

David Richardson, chief executive, said: “Given the strong first half outcome, the positive market dynamics, and our forward-looking pipeline, we expect to substantially exceed previous 2024 guidance of doubling 2021’s £211m operating profit in three years.”

The news pleased the market and helped the company’s shares leap 16%.

Mr Richardson said: “Our DB and retail businesses both contributed to this excellent performance, reflecting our continuing investment in technology and talent.”

Retirement income sales grew by 30% to £2.5bn, up from £1.9bn, the firm said.

Just said “pricing discipline and risk selection in buoyant markets” led to an increased margin of 9%, up from 8.5%.

The sales growth and higher margin combined to drive a 38% increase in new business profits to £222m, up from £161m, the firm said.

Just said the increased profit was helped by rising sales in its de-risking business, where companies pay it a premium to take over their pension obligations. 

It completed 55 transactions in the six months, up 31% from the 35 completed in the first half of 2023.

The company said over the past 18 months it has written more than one third, by number, of all DB transactions in the market, more than any other provider.

Mr Richardson said: “We have used technology to meet growing market demand as appetite amongst pension scheme trustees grows to use insurance solutions to secure the long term future of members' pensions.

“Pension scheme de-risking is helping to support growth in the UK economy by enabling UK corporates to focus on growing their businesses and by investing the assets in productive finance.”