Aviva profits rise by £247m as "major progress" is made on strategic transformation

A UK insurance company has today announced that it saw a 9 per cent increase in profit last year as its strategic transformation makes “major progress”.

Aviva, which operates internationally, reported IFRS profit of £2,910m for 2020, a 9 per cent increase on 2019’s £2,663m.

This comes as the company announces its sales of Aviva France and Aviva Italy as part of its strategic transformation.

The sales will add approximately £3bn to the company’s excess capital.

Aviva has also recently announced plans to sell its branches in Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Turkey.

Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva, commented: “Over the past year we have supported our customers in the most challenging of circumstances.

“Across the whole of Aviva our people have been outstanding and I cannot thank them enough for all they have achieved.

“2020 was a year of significant change for Aviva. We have taken major steps forward in simplifying the business, most recently with the sale of Aviva France and today’s announcement of the sale of the rest of our Italian operations.

“Our strategic focus is now on the UK, Ireland and Canada where we have leading positions.

“We are putting customers at the heart of everything we do and I am confident we will transform Aviva’s financial performance and deliver greater value for our shareholders.

“I recognise we have much more to do and we are getting on with it.

“Aviva is financially strong and following the completion of the major disposals, we will be in a position to make a substantial return of capital to our shareholders.

“We are also announcing today an £800m debt tender offer. This allows us to accelerate our debt reduction plans and lower debt by a total of £1.7bn in the first half of this year.”

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