Strong growth in the life and pensions industry last year boosted new business sales at Hibernian by 26 per cent. The company, which incorporates the merged Hibernian, Norwich Union and CGU groups, said pension sales were particularly buoyant, while interest in its Government-backed Special Savings Incentive Account also helped to boost sales.
Single premium pension sales more than doubled to €227.1 million (£179 million). Annual premium pension sales failed to show similarly strong growth but were higher than 2000 at €53.4 million compared with €47.4 million.
On the life side, single premium sales for its with profit Celebration Bond grew from €253.6 million to €411.4 million, up 62 per cent. Hibernian is preparing to introduce a similar bond at the end of the month.
Annual premium life products also increased last year to €34.9 million, up 72 per cent. A good proportion of this was due to the surge in interest in SSIA's. According to Hibernian, some 8,000 customers have so far opened one of its SSIAs which offer a choice of 23 unit-linked funds. The deadline for savers to open these accounts is April 30th.
The company expects a similar volume of sales in the next three months ahead of the deadline, according to Hibernian managing director Mr Grant Barrans.
