Sales at Standard Life fall 15% this year

STANDARD Life Plc, which has a strong presence in Ireland, has reported a 15% fall in sales in the first nine months of the year.

In Ireland, sales of £589m (€656.6), down from £661m last year, were also 15% lower on a constant currency basis, according to the interim management statement for the nine months to September 30, 2009.

Domestic sales in Ireland rose by 29%, driven by increased sales of post-retirement products during the second quarter ahead of planned changes to tax legislation.

The overall group sales decline was blamed on stock market weakness, which it said undermined demand from individual savers for their range of products.

New business for the nine months through to end September 2009 declined to £10.5 billion (€11.7bn) compared with £12.4bn in same period last year.

That matched the £10.5bn median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

“Average equity market levels over the nine-month period were 25% lower than the prior year which has had an inevitable impact on net flows and new business sales,” the group said in the statement accompanying the results.

Standard Life added it was currently working on the expansion of sales of its pension products, such as self-invested personal pensions, to higher-earning individuals in an effort to combat falling revenue from British savers.

The insurer gets almost 70% of its profit from investing premiums received in previous years, and posted a first-half loss after marking down the value of its investments.