Just Retirement sales up 12% in Q1

Group total sales for the retirement specialist life assurer for the nine months to 31 March 2008 were £571.7m. This was an increase of 20.5% year-on-year on the corresponding period the year before (£474.4m). It attributes the rise to an extension of its product ranges, including the impaired annuities market and offering enhanced terms for people with certain medical conditions such as asthma. Over the period, annuity new business was £147.6m, compared to £130.7m for Q1 2007. On the equity release side of the business, the firm has benefited from offering competitive interest rates pa...