Results round-up
Insurance giant Aviva posted its interim results for the six months to 30 June on Thursday, with operating profit rising 13% to £1.325bn and operating earnings per share improving 1% to 22.4p.
The FTSE 100 firm’s IFRS profit after tax was £201m, down from £545m in the first half of last year.
During the period, general insurance net written premiums were up 7% to £3.991bn, the life insurance value of new business increased 7% to £583m, its fund management operating profit grew 48% to £49m, and its UK Life assets under management were up 23% to £10.3bn.
Aviva’s Solvency II capital surplus was £9.5bn, down from £9.7bn, with its coverage ratio falling to 174% from 180% and operating capital generation of £1.2bn.
Its IFRS net asset value was up 6% to 412p per share, and its holding company liquidity was down slightly to £1.2bn from £1.3bn in February.
The board reported cash remittance of £752m, up from £495m, and declared an interim dividend of 7.42p, compared with 6.75p at the same time last year.
RSA Insurance reported a drop in pre-tax profit but a rise in operating profit for the first half, as it lifted its dividend.
Group operating profit was up 20% from the first half of last year to £312m while pre-tax profit fell to £148m from £281m, partly because the previous year benefited from disposal gains.
Underwriting profits increased 63% to a record £119m but weather and large losses for the insurer came in at £59m, which was worse than planned and the previous year’s £49m due to costs from the Alberta wildfire and UK and European floods in June.
RSA declared an in interim dividend of 5p per share, up from 3.5p in 2015.
Chief executive Stephen Hester said: “We are delighted with RSA’s progress towards our demanding ’best in class’ ambitions. In tough, competitive insurance markets and with significant financial market volatility, our results are even more satisfying. Particularly pleasing is the track record we are building of setting out plans and then achieving them in a high quality way.