Aviva plc: Interim management statement – 3 months to 31 March 2009
RESILIENT NEW BUSINESS SALES AND ENHANCED CAPITAL POSITION
- Sales remain resilient
- Worldwide sales up 5% to £10,313 million
- Life and pensions sales up 11% to £9,569 million
- Group margin in line with full year 2008
- Total bancassurance sales up 15%
- Benefiting from diverse distribution, geography and currency movements
- General insurance on track
- Group COR in line with ‘meet or beat’ target of 98%
- Significantly enhanced capital position
- IGD solvency surplus £2.5 billion at 31.3.09 after deducting final dividend (31.12.08: £2.0 billion)
- Increased hedging for equity market movements at 31.03.09: 40% fall would reduce IGD by just £0.2 billion; a 40% rise would increase IGD by £0.8 billion
Andrew Moss, Aviva’s chief executive, commented:
"It’s encouraging to see that people are continuing to save with companies they trust, like Aviva. Sales are resilient and we’ve taken action to improve margins in key markets. It is particularly pleasing to see bancassurance sales rebound as banks refocus on insurance as an important contributor to their earnings.
"We continue to manage our capital position effectively. At the end of March our capital surplus was significantly increased at £2.5 billion, after allowing for payment of the 2008 final dividend.
"A disciplined approach to writing business and a focus on capital management will continue to serve us well. We have a diversified business which spans 28 countries and sells through a range of distribution channels. We continue to navigate a steady course through challenging times."
Key financial highlights
| 3 months 2009 £ |
Restated1 3 months 2008 £m |
Sterling growth % |
Local currency growth % |
|
| Life and pensions business (PVNBP)2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2,505 | 2,850 | (12)% | (12)% |
| Europe | 4,735 | 4,279 | 11% | (6)% |
| North America | 1,929 | 1,048 | 84% | 33% |
| Asia Pacific | 400 | 437 | (8)% | (20)% |
| Total life and pensions | 9,569 | 8,614 | 11% | (4)% |
| Total investment sales3 | 744 | 1,234 | (40)% | (45)% |
| Total long-term savings | 10,313 | 9,848 | 5% | (9)% |
- Restated numbers reflect the move from European Embedded Value (EEV) to Market Consistent Embedded Value (MCEV) basis
- All references to sales in this announcement refer to the present value of new business premiums (PVNBP) unless otherwise stated. PVNBP is the present value of new regular premiums plus 100% of single premiums.
- Investment sales are calculated as new single premium plus the annualised value of new regular premiums.
Information
| Investor contacts | Media contacts | Timings |
| Andrew Moss +44 (0)20 7662 2286 |
Hayley Stimpson +44 (0)20 7662 7544 |
Real time media conference call 07:45am (BST) |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Scott +44 (0)20 7662 2264 |
Sue Winston +44 (0)20 7662 8221 |
Analyst conference call 09:30am (BST) |
| Charles Barrows +44 (0)20 7662 8115 |
James Murgatroyd/Matthew Newton (Finsbury) +44 (0)20 7251 3801 |
|
| Jessie Burrows +44 (0)20 7662 2111 |
Media
There will be a conference call today for real-time media at 0745 hrs (BST) on +44 (0)20 7162 0025 (quoting "Aviva, Andrew Moss"). The conference call will be hosted by Andrew Moss, chief executive.
The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media/ includes images, company information and news release archive. Photographs are available on the Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media/.
Analysts
There will be a conference call today for analysts and investors at 0930 hrs (BST) on +44 (0)20 7162 9961 (quoting "Aviva, Andrew Moss"). This conference call will be hosted by Andrew Moss, chief executive.
Replay will be available until 11 May 2009 on +44 (0)20 7031 4064. The pass code for the whole conference call, including the question and answer session, is 832876 and for the question and answer session only the pass code is 2652498.
