INSURANCE giant Legal & General said it was “very confident” about prospects this year after demand for its savings products helped quarterly sales rise by 12%.
While its worldwide sales figure of £433m was slightly below the City’s consensus forecast, L&G said market trends in the UK were positive.
It pointed to the country’s ageing population, signs of a recovering house market and the likelihood that more people will look to save money in order to safeguard their future in the face of government austerity cuts.
In the three months to March 31, L&G said new savings business increased by 20% to £320m – helped by 35 new workplace pension schemes representing 10,000 members.
In its risk division, weaker annuity sales offset an increase in protection business as revenues fell by 14% to £72m.
The decline reflected stronger comparative figures from a year earlier after many customers bought annuity products before the change in the minimum retirement age from 50 to 55 took effect in April, 2010.
Demand for individual protection products is usually driven by the house market, but L&G said its focus on non-mortgage business led to 18% growth in sales to £33m – its best quarterly performance since 2008.
L&G said group protection sales were up by 7% on a year ago at £15m.
