British insurer Aviva said Tuesday that sales dipped by almost 14 percent in the first quarter, as the group moved away from selling less profitable products.
Long-term savings sales fell to £8.76 billion in the three months to the end of March, compared with £10.17 billion in the same part of 2010, Aviva said in a trading update. The drop was in line with the group’s own forecast.
“Life sales are down on 2010, primarily because we have driven new business returns higher by changing our product mix to focus on more profitable business,” said chief executive Andrew Moss.
In afternoon deals, Aviva’s share price rose 0.30 percent to 435.30 pence on London’s FTSE 100 index of leading companies, which was down by 0.50 percent.
London, May 17, 2011 (AFP)
