Standard Life's results yesterday were so good it was almost embarrassing. The forecasts in the City had been much gloomier and almost every analyst was wrong-footed.

The shares ended the day 13 per cent higher. To be mischievous, one wonders what Standard Life's fund managers would make of any other company that failed to keep the market fully informed of its current performance.

The figures also underlined the fecundity of the Standard Life franchise and its scope for growth - and in so doing rekindled the question of what on earth the company was thinking of last year when it decided to try to fork out £5 billion for Resolution Life.

Standard Life was outbid eventually by Pearl and yesterday's results show how unnecessary such a diversification would have been. There are growth opportunities aplenty for Standard Life from sticking to the knitting. The company is simultaneously winning customers and widening margins. The organic strategy is working. Excessively conservative accounting of the past is also providing windfalls.

The army of small investors given shares in Standard Life when it demutualised 18 months ago have been on a rollercoaster ride, but they are seeing a capital gain on the flotation price again and are enjoying an agreeable yield.

At 59, Sandy Crombie says that he is in no hurry to retire, but succession planning must now be a priority for the board. The sudden departure of Trevor Matthews to head Friends Provident last year removed one possible candidate and Standard Life is right to hold him to the very last day of his gardening leave.

patrick.hosking@thetimes.co.uk

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