LONDON (AFX) - Aviva PLC, the UK's biggest insurer, said its 2004 statutory pretax operating profits were 5 pct lower under the International Financial Reporting Standards that the group is phasing in this year.
The company said IFRS rules trimmed its statutory pretax operating profits for the year to Dec 31 2004 to 1.766 bln stg, down from 1.861 bln stg under the old UK GAAP rules.
However, pretax profits were 10 pct higher under the new accounting rules, climbing to 1.642 bln stg from 1.488 bln stg under UK GAAP standards.
The company plans to state its results for 2005 under IFRS, and is restating its 2004 figures under the new rules for purposes of comparison.
All publicly quoted companies in the European Union are required to adopt IFRS rules by the end of the 2005 financial year.

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