Origen and Positive Solutions record £2m loss
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Aegon’s distribution businesses Origen and Positive Solutions recorded a loss of £2m for the first quarter of the year compared with a loss of £8m in the fourth quarter and a loss of £3m in the first quarter of 2009.
The IFA firms lost £3m in the third quarter of last year and £2m in the second quarter - totalling a £16m loss for 2009.
Meanwhile, the insurer’s UK new life and pensions business fell 7 per cent to £235m for the first three months of the year on an annual premium equivilent basis compared to £253m the first quarter of 2009.
UK underlying earnings before tax on an international financial reporting standards basis were £25m, up 178 per cent compared to £9m in Q1 2009. Aegon cites significant equity and bond market rises and further growth in the business.
The group as a whole recorded underlying earnings before tax of £415m for Q1 2010 after a loss of £83m for the first quarter of 2009. The insurer says the significantly improved performance is mainly due to improved financial markets and cost savings measures.
Aegon’s value of new business declined to £123m in the first quarter from £170m in Q1 2009.
The insurer says higher value of new business from the Netherlands and variable annuities in Europe was more than offset by decreases in the UK, America and Spain. It says its UK annuity sales declined following repricing.
UK chief executive Otto Thoresen says: “We have seen a significant rise in earnings which builds on the encouraging growth we reported in quarter four of last year. New business volumes have increased on last quarter showing a continued steady momentum.
“The life and pensions industry faces some key challenges ahead in the form of the retail distribution review and Solvency II. We are focused on building a strong and resilient business that will succeed in the new economic and regulatory environment.”
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Readers' comments (3)
Julian Stevens | 12 May 2010 12:10 pm
More and more firms seem to be saying that the world of financial services is better outside the UK. Now why might that be, we wonder?
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Anonymous | 12 May 2010 4:15 pm
The majority of the loss will be due to the redundancies implemented at the end of 2009. A friend who remains employed at Origen had recently been banging on about the biggest q1 profit the company has had since the legacy companies merged over 5 years ago! Is the management team at Origen trying to portray a false sense of security to its staff?
Surely due to the huge losses over a sustained period of time, how much longer will AEGON bank role a business that is obviously not working?
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Anonymous | 12 May 2010 7:04 pm
Another network that lloks like its going down. with RDR in 2012, they wont post profits in the near future.
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