Friends Provident International (FPI) saw a 12.3% increase in business in 2008, growth the company said was aided by the recent plunge in sterling.
The increase also contributed to a full year performance for the Friends Provident group that exceeded market expectations.
Group decline
FPI’s operations, which include its Luxembourg-based Lombard wealth management subsidiary, registered a 19% increase in new business in the 12 months ended in December. This compared with an 11% decline for the company as a whole, to £1bn, which was better than analysts had forecast.
Trevor Matthews, chief executive at Friends Provident, highlighted FPI had contributed “over half of our total fourth-quarter sales and around 45% of new business for the year as a whole”, amid tough market conditions. FPI said its sales were more diverse by region than in 2007 (see graph).
