Aegon UK distribution arm posts £5m loss in 2010

Aegon's UK distribution businesses, including Positive Solutions and Origen, managed to recoup some of 2009's losses last year but were still in the red by £5m.

However, this was an improvement on the £16m loss recorded in 2009, with the pick-up attributed to cost savings and improved market conditions

Underlying earnings before tax for the distribution businesses were also in the red at £2m for Q4 2010, lower than the £1m profit recorded in Q3.

Nethertheless, the results for the last three months of the year were still up on Q4 2009, when a loss of £8m was reported.

In total, Aegon UK reported a loss in underlying earnings before tax of £6m in Q4, including a hit from a £25m customer redress charge. New business fell to £7m as a result of lower annuity sales and margins.

Net income declined to -£16m while new life sales dropped to £190m, mainly as a result of lower annuity sales. Earnings from Aegon UK's life business also decreased to £4m, driven by adverse mortality results.

Meanwhile, its pensions business recorded a loss of £8m for the quarter as the benefits from business growth and improved market conditions were offset by the transfer of asset management to Aegon Asset Management, higher deferred policy acquisition costs amortization and the £25m customer redress charge.

In May 2009, AEGON began to implement a program to identify and correct
historical issues within its customer policy records.

It said its immediate priority was to deal with issues that resulted in financial detriment and to return affected customers to the financial position they would have been in had the issue not occurred.

The group says: "The program to determine the full scope of customer redress continues. AEGON is on track to have paid out the majority of the customer detriment by the end of 2011."

Aegon UK added its restructuring program is progressing well with the aim of reducing costs by 25% in the life and pensions operations by the end of 2011.

Its parent group reported underlying earnings before tax in Q4 were up 2% to EUR489m, with a total for 2010 of EUR2bn.