By Myles Neligan
LONDON (Reuters UK) - Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual Plc (OML) reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales, helped by the financial market rebound, but said customers remain cautious amid persistently volatile conditions.
London-listed Old Mutual's life sales for the three months to September 30 fell 4 percent on the year to 326 million pounds, while unit trust sales jumped 53 percent to 1.7 billion, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Analysts had expected life sales of 319 million pounds and unit trust sales of 1.49 billion, according to a consensus estimate compiled by the company.
"This is a respectable performance given the state of the global economy," said Oriel Securities analyst Barnard Marcus.
Old Mutual shares were down 1.8 percent at 109.1 pence by 8:30 a.m. British time, while the FTSE 100 share index was 0.7 percent lower. The stock has risen 80 percent since the beginning of the year.
Old Mutual Chief Executive Julian Roberts said the company was benefiting from stronger financial markets, but cautioned that customers had yet to fully recover their confidence.
"Consumers and asset allocators remain cautious. We expect market conditions to remain volatile," he said.
Insurers, heavily geared to financial markets which influence the value of their investments and affect customer sentiment, have benefited from a rebound in stock and bond markets since March.
But the sector continues to face weak sales of long-term life policies, as recessionary pressures force consumers to defer purchases or let existing policies lapse.
Last year, Old Mutual shares fell steeply after the group was forced to take hundreds of millions of dollars in charges to cover guarantees written into policies held by some U.S. customers.
The issues in its U.S. life business have largely been addressed, the company said on Thursday.
Old Mutual's regulatory capital surplus was 1.4 billion pounds at September 30, up from 1 billion three months earlier.
(Editing by David Holmes)
