Aviva’s operating profit leapt 14% in the first six months of the year, jumping to £875m from £765m at the end of 2023, according to its latest half-year report.
The firm accounted much of this increase to its General Insurance businesses in the UK & Ireland and Canada, which increased their operating profit by 7% to £503m over the period (up from £470m in the second half of last year).
Premiums here increased 18% to £3.8bn while UK personal lines premiums jumped an even higher 30% to £1.8bn, which may have been driven by the strong rating actions taken in the high-inflation environment.
Other branches of the business reported improved profits too. Aviva Investors operating profit more than tripled to £18m from £5m last year.
Yet four fund managers at the firm announced their exit last week to “pursue other opportunities in the market,” leading Aviva Investors to put an interim management plan in place to minimise disruption for clients.
See also: Jupiter UK Opportunities fund to close due to ‘limited demand’
Aviva’s Insurance, Wealth & Retirement also announced a 9% increase in operating profit to £532m in the first half of the year, but this was offset but its operating value, which dropped by a quarter (25.4%) as it normalised from the high gains it made last year when it made operating changes to the CSM.
For shareholders, the firm announced an interim dividend of 11.9 pence per share (up 7%) having completed another £300m share buybacks in June.
Aviva’s acquisitions of Probitas in July for £249m and AIG Life in April for £453m helped improve the group’s operating profit, according to Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc, but she stressed that organic growth was the key driver.
“To change our mix of earnings over time, organic growth is a key lever,” she said. “We have no shortage of opportunities here – and we’re already delivering right across the business.”
Blanc said Aviva is planning to launch a new venture and growth capital strategy, which “will open up new investment opportunities” for pension customers and “help unlock billions of pounds of investment into unlisted growth companies”.
