Edinburgh's Aegon UK posts stronger results amid 'unprecedented' first quarter

Aegon UK, the Edinburgh-based financial provider, has reported a “positive” quarter and vowed to continue investing in the business despite the uncertain economic backdrop.

Mike Holliday-Williams, chief executive of Aegon UK, said the firm “cannot afford to stand still in this market” as he highlighted strong inflows of business in the first quarter on the back of new client wins.

Operating profits from the UK operation increased by 24 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2021 to £43 million.

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The Dutch-owned group, which has about 2,000 people working in the Scottish capital, said this was driven by increased fees from higher equity markets compared with the first quarter of last year, as well as positive net deposits on its platform. Cost savings also played a part.

Holliday-Williams said the business was benefiting from “continual investment” while acknowledging the current macro-economic challenges. “We can only control what is in our control,” he added.

Aegon group chief executive Lard Friese said: “The first three months of 2022 have been unprecedented in many ways. The Russian invasion in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the lives of many people and fuelled inflationary pressures and volatility on the global financial markets at a time that many economies were opening up after relaxing Covid-19 measures.

“I am proud of our colleagues who continued to effectively support and service our customers in a turbulent environment as evidenced by our results, and the substantial progress we made on our 2023 strategic and financial objectives.”

Group net profit was up 7 per cent at €412m (£353m).

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