Increase in insurance premiums pushes Aviva sales and profits higher

Insurance giant Aviva has revealed higher sales and profits on the back of “excellent trading” over the past six months.

The London-listed company said it was buoyed by a jump in UK general insurance premiums, while sales from its retirement division dipped.

It reported an operating profit of £875 million for the first half of 2024, up 14% on the same period a year earlier. This was ahead of analyst expectations.

The company reported that general insurance premiums grew by 15% to £6 billion across the whole group, with an 18% rise in the UK and Ireland .

Premiums in the UK and Ireland rose as higher pricing and new propositions helped drive a 30% increase for personal lines insurance, with commercial lines up 10%

Aviva also benefited from 49% growth in its protections business, driven by its acquisition of AIG Life earlier this year.

Group chief executive Amanda Blanc said: “ 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.”

Meanwhile, the company’s retirement division saw sales drop to £3.04 billion, from £3.22 billion, on the back of a contraction in the equity release market.

Jefferies analyst James Pearse said: “Aviva continues to demonstrate strong delivery versus its targets, beating consensus expectations across all its headline metrics.

“In our view, Aviva remains the only UK insurer that can reliably deliver long-term special capital returns, accretive M&A (mergers and acquisitions), attractive ordinary dividend growth, and consistent earnings-per-share growth.”