LONDON (Reuters) - Specialist annuity provider Partnership Assurance (L:PA)'s sales fell 61 percent from a year earlier to 99 million pounds ($155.2 million), though individual annuity sales came in above forecast and the company said the longer-term outlook was strong.
UK pension reforms announced last year have hit individual annuity sales, because retirees are no longer required to use their pension pot to buy an annuity.
Partnership specialises in providing policies for people who smoke or have other medical factors, giving them a shorter life expectancy.
Individual annuity sales dropped to 54 million pounds, from 200 million in the March 2014 quarter, Partnership said in a trading statement on Wednesday, though this was above a company-supplied forecast of 46 million pounds.
"I continue to expect a gradual return to growth in the second half of 2015 and a positive outlook for the market over the long term," chief executive Steve Groves said in the statement.
Sales of bulk annuities - insuring the risk of a defined benefit pension scheme typically run by companies on behalf of employees - fell to 24 million pounds from 34 million, against a forecast of 32 million.
Partnership said there was a "strong high quality pipeline" in bulk annuities, and maintained its target for at least 200 million pounds in sales this year.