Aviva 1Q General Insurance Sales Rose; Backs Targets

   By Elena Vardon 
 

Aviva on Wednesday said its general insurance sales rose 11% in the first quarter of 2023 and backed its targets and dividend guidance.

The FTSE 100-listed insurer and asset manager's general insurance gross written premiums reached 2.38 billion pounds ($2.95 billion) for the three months to March 31 from GBP2.10 billion a year earlier.

Insurance sales were up 11% on year for the quarter while retirement sales rose 17%, it said.

The group's wealth net flows of GBP2.3 billion represented 6% of opening assets under management, it added, but were 15% lower on year due to challenging market volatility.

The British insurer ended the year with a solvency II coverage ratio--a measure of capital strength--of 196% compared with 212% at Dec. 31.

Aviva said it is on track to meet or exceed its targets, namely to reduce costs by GBP750 million by 2024, to beat its own funds generation of GBP1.5 billion a year by 2024 and deliver on its cash remittance target of more than GBP5.4 billion over 2022 to 2024.

It backed its dividend payout guidance of GBP915 million for 2023, with low-to-mid single-digit growth in the cash cost of the dividend after.

"We have delivered an encouraging start to 2023 and continue to build clear trading momentum," Chief Executive Amanda Blanc said.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2023 02:40 ET (06:40 GMT)

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