Ageas posts Q1 pre-tax loss despite strong growth

The provider reported a 23.6% rise in new annual protection premiums to £6.7m (Q1 2010 £5.4m) with gross written premiums doubling to £8.8m (£4.4m). However it still posted a first quarter pre-tax loss of £800,000 despite seeing its customer base grow by 68% to 135,000 over the same period last year. The growth in new premiums and customers reflected the continued nationwide roll-out to advisers and the insurer now claims a 6.4% IFA market share. Martin Werth, managing director of Ageas UK, commented: "A year ago our sales mix biased towards non advised sales. Now the bias is over ...