A growing appetite for pensions buyouts has helped Legal & General to treble its sales to £1.4 billion over the first half of 2008, it has been reported.

Coming as many finance sector businesses struggle amid a challenging economic environment, the insurer has benefited from a number of high-value pensions deals, most notably its recent buyout of M-real for £180 million as well as a risk insurance agreement with engineering firm Weir Group.

At the same time, L&G reported a six percent increase in operating profits to £626 million for the first two quarters of the year in spite of seeing a decline in life insurance products linked to mortgages.

"Everything is pointing in the right direction, which is up," noted Tim Breedon, L&G chief executive, speaking to the Times.

These latest figures come the day after a report from Lane Clark & Peacock revealed that the pensions funds of FTSE100 companies are now showing deficits of around £41 billion, down from a surplus of £12 billion just one year ago.