Aviva plc - AV - Isin GB00BPQY8M80

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Aviva plc is a United Kingdom-based insurance, wealth, and retirement business company.

The Company's segments include UK & Ireland Life, UK & Ireland General Insurance, Canada General Insurance, Aviva Investors, and International investments.

The UK & Ireland Life segment includes operations of life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pensions and annuity, and Succession Wealth business.

The UK & Ireland General Insurance segment is engaged in the provision of insurance cover to individuals and businesses, for risks associated mainly with motor vehicles, property and liability and medical expenses.

The Aviva Investors segment is engaged in managing policyholders' and shareholders' invested funds, provides investment management services for institutional pension fund mandates and manages a range of retail investment products.

The International investments segment comprises its long-term business operations in China, India, and Singapore.

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Aviva verhoogt dividend en boekt halfjaarwinst

(Verduidelijkt dat Aviva streeft naar een bruto kostenreductie voor haar doelstelling voor 2024)

(Alliance News) - Aviva PLC rapporteerde woensdag een winst in de eerste helft van 2023, gestimuleerd door groei in bruto geboekte premies.

De in Londen gevestigde verzekeraar zei dat zijn tussentijdse IFRS-winst na belastingen GBP377 miljoen bedroeg, vergeleken met een verlies van GBP198 miljoen een jaar eerder.

De bruto geboekte premies voor schadeverzekeringen stegen met 12% van GBP4,69 miljard naar GBP5,27 miljard.

De solvabiliteit II-aandeelhoudersdekkingsratio in de eerste helft van 2023 daalde echter naar 202% van 234% een jaar eerder.

Het bedrijf kondigde een interim-dividend aan van 11,1 pence per aandeel, een stijging van 7,8% ten opzichte van 10,3p een jaar eerder. Aviva streeft naar een totaal dividend in 2023 van 33,4 pence, een stijging van 7,7% ten opzichte van 31,0 pence in 2022.

Vooruitkijkend verwacht Aviva tegen 2024 haar Solvency II-doelstelling voor het genereren van bedrijfsmiddelen van GBP1,5 miljard per jaar te overtreffen. Verder wordt verwacht dat de doelstelling voor 2024 om de bruto kosten met GBP 750 miljoen te verlagen, een jaar eerder zal worden gehaald.

De bedrijfswinst voor 2023 zal naar verwachting met 5% tot 7% groeien ten opzichte van de GBP1,35 miljard van 2022.

Aviva aandelen stegen woensdagochtend in Londen met 1,9% tot 387,00 pence per stuk.

Door Tom Budszus, Alliance News verslaggever

https://nl.marketscreener.com/koers/aan ... -44625131/

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Britse particuliere verzekeraar Aviva betaalt niet voor Novo's afslankmedicijn Wegovy

De Britse particuliere verzekeraar Aviva heeft gezegd dat het niet zal betalen voor een behandeling met het afslankmiddel Wegovy van Novo Nordisk, dat maandag in het Verenigd Koninkrijk is gelanceerd.

Aviva, die 1,1 miljoen Britse klanten heeft met een particuliere ziektekostenverzekering, vertelde aan Reuters: "Behandeling met semaglutide, voor diabetes of gewichtsverlies, is geen voordeel onder onze polissen."

Semaglutide is het actieve farmaceutische ingrediënt in Wegovy en in Novo's geneesmiddel Ozempic, dat in het land is goedgekeurd voor de behandeling van diabetes type 2.

(Verslaggeving door Maggie Fick, Bewerking door Louise Heavens)

https://be.marketscreener.com/koers/aan ... -44764269/

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Aviva sells stake in Singlife, debt instruments to Sumitomo for £0.8bn

UK insurer Aviva on Wednesday said it had agreed to sell its 25.9% stake in Singapore Life Holdings (Singlife), together with two debt instruments, to Sumitomo Life for £800m in cash.

Sumitomo Life will pay £500m for Aviva's equity stake and £300m for the two debt instruments. Sumitomo Life is currently a 23.2% shareholder in Singlife and sees Singapore as a key market within its overall Southeast Asia strategy, Aviva said in a statement.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 74928.html

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Aviva buys AIG’s UK protection business for £460 mil

(Sept 25): Aviva plc is buying American International Group Inc’s UK protection business for £460 million (RM2.67 billion) in a deal that would expand the UK insurer’s presence in the local market.

The London-based company will use internal resources to acquire AIG Life Ltd from Corebridge Financial Inc, an AIG subsidiary, according to a statement on Monday. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

The purchase “continues our progress in repositioning the group towards capital-light growth,” Aviva Group chief executive officer Amanda Blanc said in the statement.

As part of a strategic overhaul, Aviva has been scaling back its overseas presence, selling assets in markets including Italy and Singapore. The acquisition of the AIG unit will help it reach more customers such as small and medium enterprises and high net worth propositions, according to the statement.

The transaction consideration represents 0.9 times AIG Life UK’s Solvency II own funds, after adjusting for expected capital synergies, according to the statement.

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/683800

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Aviva surges on takeover speculation

Aviva surged on Friday after markets blog Betaville suggested in one of its ‘uncooked’ alerts that the insurance group was at the centre of takeover talk.

Citing people following the situation, Betaville said there were rumours that Aviva has attracted interest from a company looking to purchase the business.

However, the identity of the company circling Aviva is unclear. Previous reports have suggested German insurance group Allianz has looked at buying a blue-chip London-listed insurer, such as Aviva.

French insurance giant Axa has also been acquisitive in the past, Betaville noted, having paid $15bn for Bermudan-based XL Group in 2018.

Other insurance firms that have been acquisitive in the UK insurance market include Canada's Intact Financial Group and Scandinavian firm Tryg, it said. They paid £7.2bn for London-listed RSA in 2020.

Intact Financial Group also recently bought Direct Line's brokered commercial lines operations for an initial payment of £520m to bolster its UK operations.

At 0940 BST, the shares were up 9% at 423.42p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Chatter that foreign players Allianz, Intact Financial and Tryg are among the potential interested parties has fired up the shares, hot on the heels of a bullish broker note earlier this week.

"What might they see in Aviva? Well, the business is forecast to have strong free cash flow and excess capital and its valuation is cheap. It has slimmed down in recent years to focus on the stronger parts of the group and there is now an opportunity to increase its position in bulk annuities which looks like a more prosperous market thanks to higher gilt yields.

"Activist investor Cevian Capital is no longer on the shareholder register causing mischief and Aviva is left as one of many stocks on the UK market looking unloved but still offering the potential for long-term value generation.

"One of the obvious times to buy a company is when it has made solid progress with a turnaround programme as that de-risks the investment case. Aviva has cast off the shackles of being a conglomerate and sharpened its focus as a result of asset disposals and a new impetus to grow, making it a stronger business. Naturally, that makes it more appealing to a would-be suitor."

https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 92352.html

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Aviva confirms full-year targets as premiums spark

Aviva reiterated its full-year targets on Thursday, after the life and general insurer saw premiums jump during the third quarter.

The blue chip said general insurance gross written premiums (GWP) rose 13% in constant currencies, to £8bn.

Within that, UK and Ireland GWP were up 15% while Canadian GWP rose 11%. Aviva said the increase had been driven by "strong rate, new business volumes and retention".

As a result, it now expects to beat medium-term targets as well as meet full-year guidance to grow operating profit by between 5% and 7%, despite a jump in weather-related claims from Storms Babet and Ciaran

Amanda Blanc, chief executive, said: "We have clear trading momentum, driven by our uniquely diversified business as well as our leading positions in growing markets.

"Aviva’s prospects are very positive. I am extremely confident that Aviva will continue to deliver more for shareholders."

Aviva confirmed it expects to pay a total dividend of 33.4p per share this year, noting that it also anticipated further "regular and sustainable" returns of surplus capital.

As at 0900 GMT, shares in Aviva were ahead 1% at 418.5p.

Aviva’s undiscounted combined operating ratio, a key measure of underwriting insurance profitability, was 96.3%, compared to 94.2% a year previously. Aviva said the increase reflected the impact of wildfires and other adverse weather in Canada.

https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 59174.html

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Aviva to buy Canada's Optiom for around £100m

Aviva said on Monday that it has agreed to buy Optiom from Novacap and other minority shareholders for around £100m.

Optiom, which operates as a managing general agent (MGA), is a provider of vehicle replacement insurance in Canada and offers flexible payment options to customers.

Aviva said the deal expands its capital-light businesses, which make up over half of the company’s portfolio, and grows Aviva Canada's presence in a profitable segment of the Canadian insurance market.

Tracy Garrad, chief executive of Aviva Canada, said: "The acquisition strengthens our offering and distribution capabilities in a highly attractive segment of the Canadian insurance market.

"We know Optiom well through our existing relationship and are excited about what we can do together to better serve our brokers and customers."

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.

https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 36238.html

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Aviva enters Lloyd's market with £242m Probitas purchase

Aviva has entered the Lloyd’s insurance market with the £242m purchase of underwriting syndicate Probitas.

The deal includes the acquisition of Probitas's Lloyd's platform, taking in its corporate member, managing agent, international distribution entities and tenancy rights to Syndicate 1492, Aviva said on Monday.

"This acquisition is another step in our strategy to invest in Aviva's future profitable growth. Aviva's presence in the Lloyd's market opens up new opportunities to accelerate growth in our capital-light General Insurance business," said Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc.

Syndicate 1492 reported gross written premium of £288m in 2023.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

https://www.sharecast.com/news/m-a/aviv ... 69013.html

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Aviva in £300m share buyback as FY profits rise 9%

UK insurance giant Aviva on Thursday unveiled a £300m share buyback and better-than-expected 9% rise in full-year earnings on a strong increase in general insurance premiums.

Operating profit increase to £1.47bn, compared with forecasts of £1.43bn. General Insurance premiums were up 13% to £10.8bn.

Aviva added that it was setting a new target for operating profit of £2bn by 2026. The dividend was lifted 8% to 33.4p a share with renewed guidance of growth in the cash cost by mid-single digits.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 94163.html