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Aviva PLC on Wednesday raised its interim dividend following a strong opening half, with the company improving financially and growing its customer base. The London-based insurance company said pretax profit attributable to shareholders jumped 50% to £784 million in the first half that ended June 30 from £521 million the previous year. Insurance revenue rose 9.7% to £9.82 billion from £8.95 billion, as insurance service expense grew 11% to £8.53 billion from £7.69 billion. Insurance service result therefore stood at GP896 million, up 2.8% from £872 million. Aviva raised its interim dividend by 7.2% to 11.9 pence per share from 11.1 pence. Chief Executive Officer Amanda Blanc said: ‘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...We have 270,000 more customers this year and 4.9 million UK customers have more than one policy with us.’ UK & Ireland general insurance premiums were up 18% to £3.81 billion, while such premiums rose 10% to £2.20 billion in Canada. Protection sales increased 49% following the completion of the £453 million acquisition of AIG UK protection in April, meanwhile Retirement sales were down 5.8%. During the period, Aviva executed a £300 million share buyback and has since confirmed its intention to carry out regular and sustainable returns of capital going forward. Aviva said remains confident it will see positive momentum continue, suggesting it is on track to achieve its operating profit target of £2 billion by 2026, up 36% from £1.47 billion reported in 2023. Aviva shares were down 0.5% to 486.30 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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