Royal London, the mutual insurance group, reported 11% growth in profits for 2015 after pulling in billions to its pension businesses – despite a rise in some of the firm’s running costs, related to IT development and the ending of legacy pensions charges.

Pre-tax profits at the insurance group rose to £244 million during the year ended December 31 2015, 11% up on 2014's figure, the company said in a statement on March 31.