UK insurance and pensions group says its sales of new long-term savings products were up 18% last year to £16,746 million, against £14,433 million in 2003. Worldwide life and pension sales were up 9% to £2,550 million, against £2,377 million in 2003.
Over half of the Group’s life and pension new business sales came from continental Europe, producing growth of 22%, with France, Netherlands, Italy and Spain outperforming local markets. Total bancassurance sales were up 17% to £4,022 million, against £3,507 million in 2003. Worldwide investment sales were up 44% to £1,629 million, as opposed to £1,141 million in 2003.
“We had a strong finish to the year, having seen a gradual return of customer confidence in 2004,” says Richard Harvey, group chief executive. “The all round strength of our life businesses has enabled us to outperform in many of our major markets, while continuing to maintain a clear focus on creating value. In the UK, we saw a return to growth in 2004, with total sales up 13% to £7.4 billion. We expect further life and pensions growth over the next 12 months, with a stronger pick-up beyond that. Across continental Europe, our growth has accelerated with total sales rising 23% to £8.3 billion, reflecting our attractive products and effective distribution. In Asia, over the past year we’ve further developed our businesses and distribution and continued to build sales momentum, as we position Aviva to capture growth in the rapidly emerging long-term savings market in the region. We are confident of further profitable growth in 2005.”