Ark Life, AIB's life assurance subsidiary, has reported good growth in new business for 1997, with annual premium equivalent (APE) sales rising from £33 million to £46.5 million.

APE is the insurance industry norm for measuring a company's performance and is a combination of total annual premium sales plus 10 per cent of single premium sales.

Last year, Ark's new regular premium sales rose from £22.9 million to £35.8 million and of this sales figure, new life assurance sales were up 49 per cent to £28.7 million while new pension sales almost doubled to £7.1 million.

Ark chairman Mr Fred Dinmore emphasised the big improvement in pensions business. "In particular we have become a very strong player in the pensions market, following the introduction of a new range of highly competitive pensions products."