Tonight:
5°c
Friends boosted by boom abroad
Simon English, Evening Standard29 Apr 2008
There were signs of life at Friends Provident today when the insurer said sales were rising across the board.
The former mutual has just turned down a £3.5 billion takeover bid from JC Flowers, but analysts remain sceptical it has an independent future.
Despite having no chief executive until Trevor Matthews arrives in August, Friends seems to be doing fine.
In the first quarter, life and pensions business rose 11% to £247 million. The international arm is booming, with sales up 77% to £58 million. The UK business dipped 2% but that is in line with the market.
Chairman Sir Adrian Montague today indicated the Flowers offer of 150p a share was far to low to trigger negotiations.
Assets at the fund management arm slipped slightly to £102billion, but Montague said that was due to market conditions rather than redemptions.
He called the sales figures "satisfying".
