Underlying earnings before tax at Aegon UK slumped 79% to just £7m in the first three months of the year as lower fund-related charges hit the firm's pensions business.
The insurer says the impact of lower equity and corporate bond markets on its unit-linked pensions prompted the slump in earnings, which stood at £34m in Q1 2008. Underlying earnings on pensions and asset management alone fell £25m to just £3m. However, Aegon UK chief executive Otto Thoresen lauded the insurer's "resilience" in posting a sales decline in new life and pensions products of just 6% in Q1, which he says "compares favourably" with its market peers. Elsewhere, Aegon UK says earnings on life and protection business were down £1m to £7m in Q1 compared with the same period las...
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