Friends Provident upbeat about future

Insurer Friends Provident unveiled little changed annual sales figures today but said it was confident of increasing market share over the next two years.

The group said new life and pensions sales were at a record of £434m (€627.9m) for 2004, after consolidating the growth that took sales to £429m (€620.7m) a year earlier. The full-year figure included fourth quarter new business of £110m (€159m), down on the £117m (€169.3m) seen in the final three months of 2003.