Just Retirement annuity sales up 87% in Q1

New annuity business at Just Retirement rose to £238.6m in the first three months of 2010, an increase of 87% and £111m on the same period last year.

Year-on-year new annuity sales were £587.9m in the nine months to 31 March 2010, up from £399.6m for the nine months to the end of March 2009, an increase of 47%.

However, the rise in annuity business was partly offset by a slump in quarterly sales of the Group's Equity Release Mortgage Advances proposition.

Equity release sales fell from £37.4m in Q1 2009 to £34.2m in the same quarter this year, a drop of 8.6%.

However, year-on-year sales of the equity release proposition rose 9.9%, up from £119.2m for the nine months to 31 March 2009 to £131m for the same period in 2010.

Just Retirement CEO Mike Fuller says: "The growth in sales was achieved as a result of a combination of factors, including increased overall annuity market activity helped by steadily increasing stock market values."

Just Retirement has also reported a further improvement in the awareness and understanding of enhanced annuities by IFAs.

"Equity release sales in the quarter were affected by seasonal factors and a decision, late in 2009, to dampen demand for a temporary period," Fuller adds.

"This was based on Just Retirement's desire to grow the market for drawdown mortgages rather than over-participate within the "max cash" arena.

"As the Group's recent interim results highlighted, profitability within equity release remains robust and I am confident that sales will return to their previous upward trend."