Aviva’s group operating profit hits £875m in H1 as GI premiums expand 15%

Aviva has revealed that its group operating profit was £875 million in H1 of 2024, up 14% from the £765 million recorded in H1 of 2023.

Meanwhile, Aviva’s General Insurance premiums grew 15% in H1 to £6 billion, with UK&I up 18% and Canada up 10%.

Strong pricing discipline and new business increases reportedly drove this growth, with an undiscounted Group combined ratio of 95.4%.

In Insurance, Wealth & Retirement (IWR), Aviva delivered £5 billion of net flows into its Wealth business in H1 2024, up 16% versus H1 2023.

At the same time, Protection sales were up 49% following the completion of the AIG acquisition in April, whilst Health in-force premiums grew 10%.

“Although Retirement sales were lower at the half-year mark, we’ve seen a very strong start to Q3 in our Bulk Purchase Annuities business,” Aviva said.

As mentioned, Aviva’s profitability improved in H1 2024, with Group operating profit up 14% and Solvency II operating own funds generation up 10%.

This translated into a higher Solvency II return on equity of 12.4%, up from 11.5% in H1 2023, and strong cash generation.

“We’ve also delivered for shareholders in the first half. In June, we completed another £300 million share buyback, and today we’re announcing an interim dividend of 11.9 pence per share, an increase of 7%, with the cash cost growing in line with our mid-single digit guidance,” Aviva added.

Amanda Blanc, Aviva’s Group Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Sales are up. Operating profit is up. The dividend is up. Our plan to deliver more for customers and shareholders is working really well.

“We have achieved another six months of excellent trading. We have generated growth right across Aviva, thanks to our leading positions in attractive markets such as workplace pensions and general insurance in the UK and Canada.”

Blanc continued, “Aviva continues to benefit significantly from the balanced and diversified business we have built and lead.

“We are the only UK insurer which can look after customers’ entire insurance, wealth and retirement needs, and this is paying off. We have 270,000 more customers this year and 4.9 million UK customers have more than one policy with us.

“We are the number one provider of workplace pensions and are planning to launch a new venture and growth capital strategy. This will open up new investment opportunities for our pension customers and could help unlock billions of pounds of investment into unlisted growth companies.”

She concluded, “We remain very positive about Aviva’s prospects. Trading conditions across the UK, Ireland and Canada, are excellent. And the UK market, our largest, is highly attractive and growing.

“We see many reasons to invest here, including greater economic stability and political certainty. This encouraging backdrop – and Aviva’s continued strong financial performance – means we are increasingly confident we can deliver even more for our customers and shareholders.”

This website states: The content on this site is sourced from the internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us and we will handle it promptly.