Aviva 1st Half Headline Operating Profit +13%; Well Insulated From External Events
August 04 2016 - 3:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
LONDON--Insurer Aviva PLC (AV.LN) Thursday reported a 13% rise
in headline operating profit, raised its dividend, and said the
company is well insulated from external events.
The 300-year old company, which has businesses across 16 markets
in the U.K., Europe, Asia and Canada, said that it remains
confident in its ability to deliver on key commitments to grow
earnings, cash and dividends. At the time of its capital markets
day last month Aviva set out a target to grow operating profit by a
"mid-single digit" in the medium term and said it plans to pay 50%
of operating earnings per share in 2017.
Aviva said its solvency II capital surplus--a measure of
financial stability--slipped to 9.5 billion pounds ($12.64
billion), from GBP9.7 billion a year earlier. Its net asset value
rose to 5.6% to 412 pence.
The company, which is the world's sixth-largest insurance
company measured by net premium income, had a solvency II ratio of
174%.
For the half year ended June 30, 2016, Aviva made an operating
profit, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items, of
GBP1.33 billion, compared with GBP1.17 billion a year earlier.
The board has raised the interim dividend by 9.9% to 7.42 pence
a share.
The value of new business rose 9% to GBP583 million, Aviva
said.
Shares closed Wednesday at 385 pence. They are currently down
26% over the past 12 months.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 04, 2016 02:57 ET (06:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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