Aviva reports results for H1 2021

Aviva plc has reported a dip in group operating profit to approximately £1.1bn for H1 2021, compared to the £1.2bn posted for the same period last year. In its UK commercial lines business, gross written premium was up 16% to £1.3bn, while in personal lines the gross written premium held steady at £1.2bn.

Across its UK business, the combined operating ratio for the period improved to 93.9 % from 106.3% in the corresponding timeframe last year.

Amanda Blanc (pictured), group chief executive officer at Aviva, said: “We have made good progress on all fronts in the 12 months since we launched our strategy. We are delivering on our commitment to make a substantial capital return to our shareholders. We intend to return at least £4bn to investors by the end of the first half of 2022, starting with a share buyback of up to £750m.

Giving more detail on its UK general insurance performance, the insurer said: “In UK commercial lines, well-priced new business opportunities, strong retention and continued rate momentum led to 16% growth across the business. This included 19% growth in Global Corporate and Specialty lines and 13% growth in small and medium-sized enterprise GWP as both mid-market and digital increased. In Ireland, commercial lines also grew significantly, up 13%, supported by expansion into mid to large business lines as well as a new financial line product launch.

“Our personal lines business in the UK achieved stable GWP and growing market share in a difficult market with weaker rates. This reflected 5% growth in retail with the successful launch of the Aviva brand on the major price comparison websites helping to offset the impact of the national lockdown on motor rates which continued to decline.

“New partnership deals entered into recently have also supported growth in home personal lines. However, COVID-19 lockdown restrictions continued to impact our intermediated business as the operations of some of our distribution partners were disrupted, particularly in Q1, while demand for travel insurance is very low given restrictions on international travel.”

    Share Story:

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE