FRIENDS Provident has announced new life and pensions business premiums increased by 11 per cent to £1,744 million for 2002.

Friends Provident's group chief executive, Keith Satchell, said: "We finished the year with our best ever quarter and the overall increase in new business of 11 per cent for the year is a very good result against a challenging backdrop of falling stock markets for the third successive year.

"Strong growth across our chosen markets of savings and investment, protection and group pensions is testament to the robustness of our business model and the strength of our service proposition, evidenced by our recent Independent Financial Adviser Four Star service award."