On a recent visit to Eagle Insurance, Aviva's Sri Lankan subsidiary, Simon Machell, chief executive, Asia Pacific, told employees that Eagle will continue to play an important role in the overall growth of the company in the region.
On a recent visit to Eagle Insurance, Aviva's Sri Lankan subsidiary, Simon Machell, chief executive, Asia Pacific, told employees that Eagle will continue to play an important role in the overall growth of the company in the region.
"We've been very happy with the growth achieved since we acquired a controlling stake in Eagle Insurance in 2006,' said Mr Machell. "We recorded 22% growth in gross written premium in 2007, mostly thanks to the expansion of our bancassurance channels. Our latest figures show a 25% year-on-year revenue growth for the second quarter of 2008. We are committed to Sri Lanka, and we expect Sri Lanka to continue to make a significant contribution to meeting our Asian growth targets."
Commenting on the Sri Lankan insurance market, Mr Machell added: "Like many other markets in the region, we believe that Sri Lanka's insurance market offers very good prospects for growth. I think it is likely that competition will intensify going forward, so we are pleased to have entered the market early and, from a bancassurance perspective, secured first-mover advantage."
Mr Machell also praised Eagle employees for their role in the company's growth: "I would like to thank our terrific workforce in Sri Lanka for delivering exemplary service and driving this business further, and to say that we look forward to a strong partnership. I would also pay tribute to all employees in Sri Lanka who have volunteered to be part of Eagle's CSR efforts, which are among the most advanced in the region."
Explaining the global dimension of Aviva's mission, Mr Machell said: "Our mission is simple: to provide peace of mind and prosperity to our 45 million customers worldwide. We do this according to the principle of One Aviva, Twice the Value which enables us to share innovation and best practices quickly and efficiently across the group."
He described Asia as key to Aviva's global business strategy and added that Asia presently accounts for 10% of group life sales, mainly due to its presence in two of the world's largest and fastest growing markets, China and India. He believes that Asia will continue to become an increasingly important region for Aviva globally and a key growth driver for the group.
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Notes to editors:
Eagle is an Aviva Company. Aviva is one of the world's oldest insurance groups, with a history dating back over 300 years to 1696. Today it is the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. The group has 57,000 employees serving 45 million customers worldwide with more than £359 billion of assets under management.