Aviva plc 2016 Interim Results Announcement

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Aug 4, 2016) - Aviva PLC (LSE: AV) (NYSE: AV)

NYSE: AV; LSE: AV.
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News Release

Aviva plc
Half Year Report 2016

4 August 2016

Aviva plc 2016 Interim Results Announcement

Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Operating profits are up 13% and the dividend is up 10%. We are delivering consistent, stable and predictable growth despite challenging market conditions.

"Our UK businesses delivered encouraging results. We are growing in the UK, we are investing in the UK. We like the UK. And we are also benefitting from Aviva's diversity, with 42% of our earnings¹ coming from outside of the UK.

"The 10% increase in the dividend, up 32% since 2013, is another step towards our target pay-out ratio of 50% and underpins our confidence in delivering sustainable and growing returns.

"We are continuing to maintain a strong balance sheet, with a solvency ratio of 174%^2,3, toward the upper end of our working range.

"Aviva's strong financial position and diversity mean we are well insulated from external events. We have deliberately designed Aviva to be resilient to a low interest rate environment.

"We remain confident in our ability to deliver on our key commitments to grow earnings, cash and dividends."

Profit	n Operating profit up 13% to £1,325 million (HY15: £1,170 million) n Operating EPS up 1% to 22.4p (HY15: 22.1p) n IFRS profit after tax £201 million (HY15: £545 million)
Capital	n Solvency II capital surplus £9.5 billion2 (FY15: £9.7 billion) n Solvency II coverage ratio3 of 174%2 (FY15: 180%) n Solvency II operating capital generation £1.2 billion n IFRS net asset value up 6% to 412p per share (FY15: 390p4) n Holding company liquidity £1.2 billion5 (February 2016: £1.3 billion)
Cash	n Cash remittances £752 million (HY15: £495 million) n 2016 interim dividend up 10% to 7.42p (HY15: 6.75p)
Growth	n General insurance net written premiums up 7%6 to £3,991 million (HY15: £3,678 million) n Life insurance value of new business up 7%6 to £583 million (HY15: £534 million) n Fund management operating profit up 48% to £49 million (HY15: £33 million) n UK Life platform AUM up 23% to £10.3 billion (FY15: £8.4 billion)
Combined ratio	n 96.2% general insurance combined operating ratio (HY15: 93.1%) n HY16 combined operating ratio affected by an increase in natural catastrophe & weather claims (1.5%), Flood Re (0.6%) and commission strain from new distribution partnership (1.0%)

1 Defined as operating profit before corporate centre costs and group debt and other interest costs.
2 The estimated Solvency II position includes the estimated impact of acquiring the RBC General Insurance business (£(0.3) billion) on a pro-forma basis. The acquisition completed on 1st July 2016, and was funded by an issue of £0.3 billion of subordinated debt in May 2016.
3 The estimated Solvency II ratio represents the shareholder view. This excludes the contribution to Group Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) and Group Own Funds of fully ring fenced with-profits funds £2.7 billion (FY15: £2.7 billion) and staff pension schemes in surplus £0.9 billion (FY15: £0.7 billion) - these exclusions have no impact on Solvency II surplus.
4 Following a correction to accounting and modelling for annual management charge rebates in UK Life, prior year comparatives have been restated. This has led to an increase in operating profit and profit before tax of £23 million for full year 2015 and an increase in opening retained earnings for 2015 of £20 million with an increase in equity at 31 December 2015 of £38 million. See note B2 for further details.
5 Holding company liquidity consists of cash, liquid assets and £2 million of syndicated loans held in Aviva and Friends Life holding companies.
6 On a constant currency basis.

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Contacts

Investor contacts		Media contacts		Timings
Chris Esson +44 (0)20 7662 8115 David Elliot +44 (0)20 7662 8048		Nigel Prideaux +44 (0)20 7662 0215 Andrew Reid +44 (0)20 7662 3131 Sarah Swailes +44 (0)20 7662 6700		Presentation slides: 07:00 hrs BST http://www.aviva.com/ Real time media conference call: 07:30 hrs BST Analyst presentation: 08:30 hrs BST Live webcast: 08:30 hrs BST http://www.avivawebcast.com/interim2016/

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange