4 - Bancassurance margins - before required capital, tax and minority interests
| Present value of new business premiums | New business contribution2 | New business margin3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months 2008 £m |
6 months 20071 £m |
6 months 2008 £m |
6 months 20071 £m |
6 months 2008 % |
6 months 20071 % |
|||
| ||||||||
| United Kingdom | 628 | 575 | 27 | 24 | 4.3% | 4.2% | ||
| France | 487 | 417 | 23 | 19 | 4.7% | 4.6% | ||
| Ireland | 349 | 435 | 4 | 9 | 1.1% | 2.1% | ||
| Italy | 1,241 | 1,799 | 36 | 49 | 2.9% | 2.7% | ||
| Netherlands | 227 | 199 | 7 | 7 | 3.1% | 3.5% | ||
| Poland | 291 | 46 | 1 | – | 0.3% | – | ||
| Spain | 1,127 | 1,012 | 134 | 87 | 11.9% | 8.6% | ||
| Other Europe | 27 | – | 2 | – | 7.4% | – | ||
| Europe | 3,749 | 3,908 | 207 | 171 | 5.5% | 4.4% | ||
| North America | 6 | 27 | – | (1) | – | (3.7)% | ||
| Asia Pacific | 312 | 166 | 9 | 10 | 2.9% | 7.2% | ||
| Bancassurance channels | 4,695 | 4,676 | 243 | 204 | 5.2% | 4.4% | ||
United Kingdom
Life and pension sales through the bancassurance agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group continued to grow strongly, up 9% to £628 million (six months to 30 June 2007: £575 million) reflecting the commitment of both partners to the ongoing development of this successful relationship. New business margins increased slightly to 4.3% (30 June 2007: 4.2%). Including investment products, sales were up 12%.
Europe
In France, the new business margin of our bancassurance joint venture was stable at 4.7% (30 June 2007: 4.6%). In Ireland, new business margin was lower at 1.1% (30 June 2007: 2.1%) reflecting lower sales through our partnership with AIB which decreased by 20% in difficult market conditions. In Italy, our bancassurance partnerships produced lower sales of £1,241 million (six months to 30 June 2007: £1,799 million) but increased new business margin to 2.9% (30 June 2007: 2.7%). The new business bancassurance margin in Spain increased to 11.9% (30 June 2007: 8.6%), following the one-off transfer of a large risk portfolio into the Cajamurcia joint venture and the change in business mix across other venture partners. Our bancassurance agreement with ABN AMRO in the Netherlands generated a margin of 3.1% (30 June 2007: 3.5%) reflecting a change in business mix and increased competition.
North America
Sales were down to £6 million (six months to 30 June 2007: £27 million) reflecting the rationalisation of the Boston bancassurance channels as a result of the AmerUs acquisition.
Asia Pacific
Life and pension sales grew by 88% to £312 million (six months to 30 June 2007: £166 million), mainly driven by the impact of new product initiatives in Singapore, new businesses in Taiwan and Malaysia and sales growth from distribution expansion in China. New business margin at 2.9% (30 June 2007: 7.2%), reflected a higher proportion of business being generated in China, change in product mix and re-design brought about by legislative changes in India, and the start-up nature of operations in Malaysia and Taiwan.
