- Investors question cash generation
- L&G faces competition for income investors
Capital markets days are usually sedate events. Companies give presentations at the stock exchange, there is generally a decent lunch, and investors and lenders get to rub shoulders with the management and ask a few tame questions.
By contrast, the recent capital markets day for Legal & General (LGEN) was an altogether more surprising affair, with new chief executive António Simões handed the unenviable task of telling investors that their dividends are not going to grow as fast over the next couple of years as expected. The market did not take the news well on the day, sending the shares down 5 per cent. Legal & General has recovered slightly since then, but the shares are still down 8 per cent in the year to date.