Analyst predicts profits could fall by as much as 80%
Legal & General shares fell 7.9% to 55.8p after Société Générale moved to a "sell" rating and cut its 2009 profit estimate by 80%, The FT and Guardian report.
"L&G still has the highest exposure to equities among the UK life stocks we cover," said SocGen analyst Michael van Wegen.
"In addition, L&G has lower provisions against bond defaults. These two factors support our view that L&G is the highest risk stock in the group and thus merits a discount."
- RSA was up 0.1% to 124.3p
- Aviva was down 0.9% at 326p
- Prudential was down 5p at 404p.
