U. K. insurance and investments group Legal & General returned to profit in FY 2009 beating the market expectations. The group released its annual results on Tuesday morning and the shares of the company jumped 5% on excellent results. Legal & General also raised its dividend payout to 2.73 pence for the year 2009.

The Group said in its outlook that it is optimistic about medium term growth prospects.

Legal & General reported a net profit of £863 million in FY 2009, while in the previous corresponding fiscal it reported a heavy loss of £1.07 billion. In FY 2008 the results was heavily affected by the hefty charges. Net profit in FY
2009 beat the market expectations as the analysts estimated a net profit of £461 million for the period.

In FY 2009, the group reported an operating profit of £1.11 billion, increasing by 87% while it was reported of £592 million in the same period last year. Legal & General said that it had reported annual cost savings of £69 million pounds ahead of its target of £50 million for the year.

The Group also said that it is quite optimistic for about medium term growth prospects despite of its cautious outlook for the U. K. economy.