STANDARD Life is next week expected to report an increase in new business in 2007, despite the group's sales being hit by the credit crunch in the final quarter of last year.
Analysts are predicting that the former mutual will, on Wednesday, report an 11 per cent rise in worldwide insurance sales during 2007 to £16.2 billion. They also expect Standard's UK life and pensions sales to have jumped 16 per cent to £13.3bn and
inflows of £7.2bn to Standard Life Investments.
But the 11 analysts polled by Standard Life said they expected a decline in sales in the final quarter of last year for the Edinburgh-based group.
They have estimated that total worldwide insurance sales in the three months to 31 December will be about £3.9bn, a fall of 16 per cent on the final quarter of 2006. Worldwide investment inflows are expected to be 22 per cent down on the last three months of 2006, and gross mortgage lending for Standard Life Bank down 6 per cent.
There has been previous evidence that British insurers suffered a fall in sales at the end of 2007. On Thursday, the UK's fourth largest insurer, Legal & General, revealed that its fourth-quarter sales tumbled 22 per cent, hit by a decline in bond and mutual-fund sales.
Friends Provident will next week announce the results of its strategic review, which could lead to a major sell-off of assets.
The full article contains 246 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
