SCOTTISH Life owner Royal London has booked a steady rise in new business, but warned conditions will remain difficult.
The group, the largest mutual life and pensions company in the UK, recorded the strongest growth at its Edinburgh-based mortgage protection arm, Bright Grey. New business there rose 10 per cent to £139.5 million in the nine months to 30 September.
Other parts of Royal London saw steady sales, though total new business at Scottish Life dipped 5 per cent to just over £1.1 billion. Within that, sales of individual pensions were up 6 per cent, while group pensions slumped by almost a quarter.
New life and pensions business across the group lifted 8 per cent to £1.85 billion, down on the 14 per cent growth recorded a year earlier when sales received a boost from the twin acquisitions of Scottish Provident International and Phoenix Life Assurance.
About 2,000 of Royal London's 2,900 staff work in Edinburgh.
Group chief executive Mike Yardley said: "The group has continued to achieve good overall results, increasing the total amount of profitable new business despite the uncertain economic backdrop.
"Although economic conditions will remain difficult, I am confident that we will continue to attract good levels of new business during the rest of the year and into 2010."
Gross new business at Royal London Asset Management fell 13 per cent to £1.17bn in the period.
Royal London's figures were calculated as new single premiums, plus the expected present value of new regular premiums – so-called "present value of new business premiums".
They are said to be a more accurate measure of new business than the previous measure – "annual premium equivalent".
