Pension and insurance giant Legal & General has said the group’s balance sheet remains strong and that full-year earnings are on track despite the mini-budget market turmoil that left some pension funds on the brink of collapse.

The group said the market chaos that caused the pound to plunge to record lows against the dollar and sent gilt yield soaring had caused “challenges” for the pension fund clients and counterparties of its LGIM UK Liability Driven Investment (LDI) business.

But it said the Bank of England’s emergency gilt-buying programme last Wednesday had “helped to alleviate the pressure on our clients”.

“We are continuing to work closely with them to achieve appropriate hedging levels in their portfolios,” it said.

It added its annuity portfolio had also not suffered any problems in meeting collateral calls and said it had “not been forced sellers of gilts or bonds”.

The group said it expects to deliver 2022 operating profit growth in line with the 8% growth delivered in the first half, while capital generation is set to come in at £1.8 billion.

Sir Nigel Wilson, group chief executive of Legal & General, said: “Our businesses are resilient, and we are on track to deliver good growth in key financial metrics for full-year 2022.

He added: “Our balance sheet and liquidity position remain strong, and our businesses are highly cash generative.

“We continue to work closely with our customers to support them through this period of increased market volatility.”

Legal & General says balance sheet remains strong despite turmoil