Standard Life suffers sales fall

STANDARD Life boss Sandy Crombie today insisted the mutual was on course to be one of the major winners in the UK life and pensions market despite becoming the first big gun in the sector to report falling sales.

The group, which last year stunned policyholders with plans to float in the City, has suffered a drop in new business as it desperately tries to change its product mix and shore up profits.

Figures today showed that over the 13½ months to December, sales in its domestic market totalled £939m on the industry standard annual premium equivalent basis (Ape), down 2% on the previous 12 months.

Standard Life is changing its year-end to fit with the rest of the market and the underlying drop is about 10%. Its market share was 8.6% in the third quarter of 2004, down from 10.2% at the start of the year.

Crombie, who took over from Iain Lumsden last year, has said the group will suffer as it cuts back ahead of a £5bn float expected in 2006.

It frittered away some £12bn in a disastrous spell following the tech boom as it maintained too high an exposure to the stock market and wrote unprofitable business.

Total sales, including Germany, Canada and Asia, came in at £1.4bn for the 13½ months, up 11%.

Crombie said: 'When viewed against the backdrop of the major strategic changes announced last year, these figures demonstrate that Standard Life continues to enjoy strong support.'