Aviva has delivered better-than-expected first quarter sales, buoyed by rapid growth in the UK.
Aviva said total life and pensions new business sales for the first three months of 2006 increased 20% to £6.788bn on a present value of new business premiums basis, from £5.659bn a year earlier, and ahead of the consensus analyst forecast of £6.075bn.
The improvement was driven by the UK, where sales jumped 27% to £2.76bn, outpacing the overseas division, where they rose 16% to £3.476bn.
The profit from UK new business came in at £77m, giving a margin of 2.8%, down from 3.1% a year earlier.
Richard Harvey, Aviva chief executive, said: "Aviva is in excellent shape and our balanced portfolio means we are better positioned than ever to seize profitable market opportunities."
Mikar Shah, an analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton, that has an 'in-line stance on the shares, said: "These are quite good numbers, actually. Higher pensions business is always going to have an impact on margins because, because it's a lower margin product."
By 11.10am the share price was down 1.54% to 800p.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
