Otto Thoresen, chief executive of Aegon UK, poured cold water on speculation that the Edinburgh-headquartered life and pensions business could be sold, maintaining its Dutch parent was very pleased with the business.

Otto Thoresen, chief executive of Aegon UK, poured cold water on speculation that the Edinburgh-headquartered life and pensions business could be sold, maintaining its Dutch parent was very pleased with the business.

Speaking after Aegon UK announced a "resilient" first- half performance, Thoresen gave short-shrift to analysts' suggestions that Aegon might decide to off load its UK arm to Clive Cowdery's acquisitive Resolution. After Resolution agreed to buy Friends Provident for £1.86bn on Tuesday, Cowdery said he was already talking to the owners of other potential targets.

Aegon UK, which owns the Scottish Equitable brand, was included with Scottish Widows in a list of firms owned by groups who might want to sell their UK life operations to raise funds to invest elsewhere.

Yesterday Aegon NV's group chief executive Alex Wynaendts said: "Ensuring that Aegon maintains a strong capital position continues to be front and centre in our actions."

However, asked to comment on the takeover talk, Thoresen said: "As a substantial player in the long-term savings market we get mentioned in many respects in discussions about potential transactions. Aegon is very pleased with the development of the UK business. Three or four years ago we were 6% of the UK market now we are 10%."

He said Aegon UK had been supporting the group across the globe. A new group venture in India had been substantially supported from the UK.

"We are pretty confident that we can continue to develop and grow within the Aegon Group," added Thoresen. He said Aegon UK had made good progress despite challenging market conditions in the first half.

The recession and turbulence on global stock markets last year had reduced the appetite of some customers for savings and investment products.

The number of new entrants to group pensions schemes has fallen as employers have been taking on fewer staff.

However, Aegon has felt the benefit of focusing on more profitable areas such as variable annuities.

Second-quarter sales of new life and pensions business was £238m, down 30% on the record achieved in the same quarter last year. Sales fell by 19% in the first half, to £512m.

However, the Value of New Business, a key measure of profitability, was £39.3m in the second quarter and £91m in the first half. This was in line with last year, reflecting a more favourable product mix.

Thoresen said results announced by rivals so far indicated that Aegon had performed in line with the competition. Aegon UK held its share of the UK life and pensions market at 10.4%.

Thoresen said Aegon UK had decided to withdraw from the group risk market and focus on its other stronger markets in June, with the loss of up to 100 jobs, because it was dominated by three firms with bigger positions.