Worldwide long-term new business sales of £10.8 billion (2002: £10.6 billion)
- Worldwide long-term new business sales of £10.8 billion
(2002: £10.6 billion) - Worldwide life and pensions sales of £1,745 million
(2002: £1,746 million) on an APE* basis - Indications of confidence slowly returning to savings markets
- Worldwide total bancassurance sales up 44% at £417 million
(2002: £271 million) on an APE* basis - Continental European life and pensions sales up 10% on an APE* basis representing 48% of total worldwide life and pensions new business sales
- Worldwide new business contribution at £437 million (2002: £416 million), with a new business margin of 25.0% (full year 2002: 24.4%)
* Annual premium equivalent (APE) is the UK industry's standard measure of new regular premiums and 10% of single premiums.
All growth rates quoted are at constant rates of exchange.
Richard Harvey, Group Chief Executive, commented:
“We are seeing signs of a recovery slowly returning to the UK savings market. In Continental Europe sales have increased by 10% during 2003, mostly driven through bancassurance. These together have resulted in stable overall group sales. Margins have improved, following the actions that we have taken to reduce costs, improve pricing and target higher margin business.”
Enquiries:
| Analysts/Investors: | |
| Philip Scott, Group Executive Director | +44 (0)20 7662 2264 |
| Steve Riley, Investor Relations Director | +44 (0)20 7662 8115 |
| James Matthews, Head of Investor Relations | +44 (0)20 7662 2137 |
| Media: | |
| Hayley Stimpson, Director of External Affairs | +44 (0)20 7662 7544 |
| Sue Winston, Head of Group Media Relations | +44 (0)20 7662 8221 |
| Alex Child-Villiers, Financial Dynamics | +44 (0)20 7269 7107 |
NEWSWIRES: There will be a conference call today for wire services at 7:45am (UK time) on +44 (0)1452 569393. This conference call will be hosted by Philip Scott, Group Executive Director and Gary Withers, Chief Executive Norwich Union Life.
ANALYSTS: There will be a conference call today for analysts and investors at 9:30am (UK time) on +44 (0)1452 569393. This conference call will be hosted by Philip Scott, Group Executive Director and Gary Withers, Chief Executive Norwich Union Life.
Replay will be available for two weeks until 6 November. The dial in number for replay is +44 (0)1452 550000 and the pass code is 446433.
To view the full text of this release, download the announcement (PDF 112KB).