Aviva Insurance records higher dividends and significant capital returns.
Aviva had set a goal of returning more than £4bn to shareholders. The company has successfully exceeded that goal by returning £4.75bn in capital returns inclusive of the £1bn share buyback from the past.
A final dividend of 14.7p was also announced, up from 14.0p.
The acquisition of Succession Wealth, a national finance advisory firm is said to be in place to help the company improve their competencies and expedite their growth.
Operating profits for Aviva have decreased to £2.2bn in 2021 from £3.1bn in 2020. The operating profits took a hit due to the impact of profits from operations which have been discontinued.
Despite a quiet first half, UK & Ireland Life sales increased by 22% to £35.6bn in 2021 from £29.3bn in 2020, with good rises in Savings & Retirement which were up 33% and Annuities & Equity Release which were up 5% to £7.9bn in 2021.
“Aviva has the foundations in place to deliver its promise. We’ve achieved a lot in the last year but we’re only just getting started. There is so much more Aviva can and will deliver for our customers and our shareholders,” commented Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aviva.
In the past year, Aviva has sold 8 non-core companies for a total yield of £7.5 billion.
Sophie Lund, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown said, “Put simply, Aviva is a much simpler beast than it once was. The new, leaner structure has operational and shareholder benefits. The structural benefits are clear to see, and has also resulted in Aviva upping its planned shareholder returns programme to well north of the £4bn target. “
“The group is also making waves to increase its presence in the wealth management market through the £385m acquisition of Succession Wealth. As a giant in the workplace pension world, being able to offer advice to those same customers makes strategic sense.”
Aviva shares were trading steady at 0.86% to 410p despite the announcements on Wednesday morning.
