British life insurer Aviva, which owns Hibernian here, reported a better than expected 12% rise in its nine-month sales, with strong growth in Europe and North America helping to offset a flat performance in the UK.
Aviva said it had life and pensions sales of £25.673 billion sterling in the nine months to September 30, up from £22.935 billion the same time last year.
Analysts had expected sales of £24.859 billion, according to the average of 13 forecasts collected by the company. Individual forecasts ranged from a low of £23.959 billion to a high of £25.488 billion.
Aviva also said its capital position was 'strong', with a capital surplus of £1.3 billion pounds at October 24. The company estimated its surplus would fall by £400m in the event of stock markets falling by a further 20%.
Life insurance shares have fallen steeply this month on mounting concerns that falling equity and bond markets as the global economy slows could dent their capital reserves.
In Ireland, life assurance and pension sales for Hibernian Life and Ark Life's fell by 27% to £648m from £889m in 2007. This led to operating profit dropping to £30m from £37m.
General insurance was also down for Hibernian - Ireland's biggest insurer - with premiums down 5% on a local currency basis to £266m.
Total operating profit in this area was £41m, almost 50% lower than the £80m posted in 2007.
Hibernian took a 70% stake in VIVAS Health (now known as Hibernian Health) in May, and the firm believe this move into the health sector offers 'significant growth opportunities'.
