Friends Prov total sales plunge with FPI business hit

The drop off in sales at FPI to £37m in Q1 is due to "demanding" economic conditions and low investor confidence, according to Rocco Sepe, managing director, international at Friends Provident. However, he says FPI still has a solid position in the Asia market on which to build, despite being heavily dependent on the Hong Kong market, which dropped 75% in Q4. Sepe predicts Hong Kong could be one of the first markets to recover. He says: "We continue to work on propositions to win a big slice of this business, when it does pick up." Furthermore, Sepe says the Middle East business is d...