Aviva has announced that its worldwide sales in the first quarter of 2009 were up 5 percent to GBP 10.3 billion, or about CAD$18.3 billion.

Life and pension sales were up 11 percent to over GBP 9.5 billion pounds and group margins remained in line with the 2008 results.

Aviva saw its share price fall sharply in March due to worries about its capital strength. With the release of its quarterly report, it said its solvency surplus had risen to GBP 2.5 billion by the end of March from GBP 2 billion three months earlier.