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Summary

• Legal & General will be funding the development of a new sciences building with the University of Oxford worth £200 million
• The construction of the Life and Mind Building, which is due to begin in July 2021, is expected to open in 2024
• The company had announced the payment of an interim dividend of 4.93 pence per share

Legal & General has announced to fund the development of a new sciences building with the University of Oxford to serve as a world-class home for their departments of Zoology, Plant Sciences and Experimental Psychology worth £200 million (€217.2 million). Funded by the UK insurer’s retirement business, Legal & General Capital will act as a developer and LGIM Real Assets as a development manager.

The building is a part of Legal & General’s £4 billion partnership with the University of Oxford, which was announced in June 2019, to develop a number of innovation facilities. The existing Tinbergen building will be demolished by October 2020.

The Life and Mind Building

The construction of the Life and Mind Building, which is due to begin in July 2021, is expected to open in 2024. It is the largest building project in the university’s history which will include 25,000 square metres of internal space and would provide state-of-the-art laboratories for students and researchers. The site will also consist of study rooms as well as a café, office space and multifunctional break-out areas.

Macfarlanes’ Advise

Macfarlanes, a London-based law firm, has advised Legal & General on the funding and delivery of a £200 million worth ‘Life and Mind Building’ at Oxford University. The advisory team of Macfarlanes was led by its real estate partner Anthony Burnett-Scott along with Dominic Cunliffe and construction partner Angus Dawson. Kirsten Prichard Jones, a senior counsel and head of VAT Chris Mortimer provided Legal and General with tax expertise. Legal & General has been a long-standing client of Macfarlanes.

Anthony Burnett-Scott stated that it was a pleasure to advise Legal & General on the development project, which is bound to make a real difference to the teaching facilities and important research that the departments are undertaking.

Views on The Agreement

The CEO of Legal & General, Nigel Wilson said that the company was extremely proud of its partnership with the University of Oxford, which will help in retaining the talent in the city, while driving essential inward investment and providing opportunities for world-leading innovation, in the wake of Covid-19.

Wilson also added that over £25 billion had been invested by Legal & General in levelling-up regional economies throughout the UK, along with integrating with local and central governments, universities and local businesses in Cardiff, Newcastle and Greater Manchester. Such investments will help in facilitating pensions and savings that are used to create positive social, environmental and economic outcomes.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, Louise Richardson said the University of Oxford is also delighted to be working in partnership with Legal & General in delivering a landmark Life and Mind building that will enable the transformation of the relationship between the biological and psychological sciences. The building will provide innovative facilities for teaching and research and train a new generation of scientists who in turn will help us to address critical global challenges.

Recent Development at Legal and General Group

A leading player of the financial sector, Legal and General Group PLC (LON:LGEN) is engaged in activities such as life assurance and long-term savings business, investment management, and general insurance and health business.

H1 2020 Financial Results

In the half-yearly results, the company recorded a slight decline of 2 per cent in the operating profits from continuing divisions to £1,128 million (H1 2019: £1,154 million), with 3 out of 5 businesses witnessing growth. The company also recorded a 6 per cent decline in the operating profits for H1 2020 to £946 million (H1 2019: £1,005 million) because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the cliched impact of lower interest rates on LGI and the unrealised impact of market movements the profit after tax slumped by 67 per cent to £290 million (H1 2019: £874 million).

Also Read: Legal & General Group Plc declares FY2019 results

Dividend Declaration

In spite of facing a decline in its profits due to the interest rates reduction and the falling value of some investments, Legal and General Group PLC had announced its intention to pay out a dividend of 4.93 pence per share, the same interim dividend it paid to its shareholders in the previous year.

Do Read: Legal & General Plc To Go With Dividend Payment Defying Bank Of England’s Advice

Stock Performance

LGEN stock was trading at 189.30 on 21 October 2020 (16:10 PM GMT+1), down by 0.99 per cent from its previous close of GBX 191.20. The 52-week low/high price was GBX 138.60/318.40. It was having a market capitalisation (Mcap) of £11,408.71 million. The volume traded for the day was 10,997,231. The company recorded a negative return on price, which was 38.52 per cent on a YTD (Year to Date) basis.

Conclusion

Though the company has been slightly impacted by the coronavirus, the strategy and growth factors have been successful in delivering strong returns to its shareholders over time, demonstrating resilience in the current environment.  Post-pandemic economic recovery, the company will be supporting its shareholders and customers through investments in infrastructure, clean energy, affordable housing, and providing products to support individuals' financial resilience.