Gross premiums increased to £83m with 21% growth through its broker channel and 25% growth through its direct channel.
The increase in protection sales marked the strongest quarter for individual protection for L&G since 2008.
In the region of half of these policies were to cover family or business protection needs and the remainder were linked to a mortgage.
Overall L&G reported operational cash generation of £249m compared to £245m the same quarter the previous year with net cash generation of £210m up slightly from £209m in Q1 2011.
Its risk sales were up 8% to £78m from £72m in Q1 2011. Savings sales were down 6% to £300m compared to £320m in Q1 2011.
Tim Breedon, group chief executive of L&G, said: “The strength of L&G’s diversified model has enabled us to deliver strong sales in risk, increased net inflows to L&G Investment Management and another good performance on cash generation this quarter.
“Despite the challenging economic backdrop we have strong positions in our chosen markets. LGIM delivered positive net flows of £2.6bn, up 29% on Q1 2011, and now has assets under management of £383bn. Risk has achieved sales growth of 8% as consumers seek to protect their families and to secure their retirement incomes.
“We continue to evolve our model both in the UK and in international markets and our diverse product range and broad distribution position us to respond well to regulatory changes. Although we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we remain confident in our ability to continue delivering growth in scale together with substantial cash generation in 2012 and beyond.”
