LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Phoenix Group said it beat its target for cash generation in 2020 as the closed life insurance company pledged to be carbon neutral by 2025.

The FTSE 100 group generated £1.71bn of cash in 2020 compared with £707m in 2019. This year's total was more than the upper end of its target of £1.5bn to £1.6bn.

The total included £472m of cash generation from new business in the nine months to the end of September compared with £483m in the same period a year earlier.

Phoenix's solvency 2 surplus increased by £0.6bn between the end of June and the end of September. The shareholder capital coverage ratio was 159% at the end of September - up from 150% at the end of June and in the middle of the target range of 140% to 180%.

Chief Executive Andy Briggs said: "Phoenix has continued to perform strongly with full year cash generation of £1.7bn now complete, exceeding the top end of our target range. Our balance sheet remains resilient, underpinned by our high-quality portfolio of assets and unique approach to risk management, and our shareholder capital coverage ratio of 159% remains robust."

Phoenix also pledged to make emissions from its premises and business travel net-zero carbon by 2025 and to make its investment portfolio net-zero by 2050. Briggs said Phoenix would cut the impact of its investments by increasing holdings in low-carbon assets and putting pressure on investee companies to comply with the Paris agreement on climate change.

"We will reduce or ultimately eliminate our exposure from companies that show little progress following sustained engagement," Phoenix said.

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