France
Aviva France reported an excellent 40% growth in sales to £1,020 million (2004: £717 million), with £235 million of this increase from sales through the new bancassurance joint venture with Crédit du Nord. This is an impressive start to the year for the joint venture, which came on stream on 1 October 2004 and complements our existing distribution capability. The focus for Aviva France has been to move the business mix towards a greater proportion of unit-linked business where exceptional growth was achieved, doubling sales to £411 million (2004: £198 million) in these products.
AFER, the largest savings association in France, continues to be an important source of new business growth. Sales through AFER grew steadily at 4% to £474 million and now account for 46% of total new business for Aviva France (2004: 63%). Unit-linked sales through AFER increased by 66% to £109 million, while euro saving sales were £365 million (2004: £384 million). Unit-linked sales now represent 23% of the total AFER sales.
Aviva Gestion d’Actifs continues to invest funds on behalf of Aviva France and has been widely recognised for its excellent performance in the financial press. These include “best provider with a large range of funds over one, three and five years” from La Tribune/Standard & Poor’s.
While total sales increased by 40%, new business contribution increased by 50% to £36 million (2004: £24 million), with a margin of 3.5% (full year 2004: 3.4%).
