Legal & General report strong profits despite the ‘sluggish’ economy.

Insurer Legal & General has raised its dividend by a larger than expected 20% following record sales in 2013 and a rise in pre-tax profits of 9%.

Chief executive Nigel Wilson said that the ageing population, cuts in state welfare and the shrinking of the banking sector all helped to drive business growth in the insurance industry.

The news puts pressure on the UK’s biggest insurer Aviva, which will report its own annual results on Thursday. Most analysts expect Aviva to maintain its dividend, but some suspect that it could be cut by as much as a sixth.

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