Results announcement

AVIVA REPORTS ENCOURAGING FOURTH QUARTER SALES
Improved fourth quarter sales	Life and pensions sales of £8 billion in the fourth quarter, up 21% on the third quarter of 2009 Strong regional performance with life and pension sales up 17% in the UK, 39% in Aviva Europe* and 45% in the US compared with the third quarter of 2009 Sales volumes managed to ensure capital efficiency and profitability Worldwide total sales for the year of £36 billion (2008: £40 billion)
Capital position strengthened	IGD solvency surplus estimated at £4.5 billion (2008: £2.0 billion)
Strong strategic progress	Successful IPO of Delta Lloyd £0.5 billion being paid to policyholders for reattribution of UK inherited estate Completed sale of Australian life business

* which excludes Delta Lloyd

Andrew Moss, Aviva’s group chief executive, commented:

"In the fourth quarter we increased sales across all our regions and saw the first signs of an improved appetite to save among our customers. European bancassurance was particularly strong.

"In 2009 as a whole we have successfully managed new business to ensure the right balance between volume, capital efficiency and profitability. This means we have deliberately foregone sales in some areas.

"We also achieved a number of important milestones in the final three months of the year, in particular the IPO of our Dutch subsidiary, Delta Lloyd, building further momentum in the delivery of our ‘One Aviva, twice the value’ strategy.

"We start 2010 in a strong position. Our focus remains on growing our business profitably and improving our operational efficiency so that we can fully benefit as our major markets return to economic growth."

 

Key financial highlights

	Quarter 4 2009 £m	Quarter 3 2009 £m	Sterling change	Local currency change
Total life and pensions sales (PVNBP)1	7,943	6,587	21%	21%
Total investment sales2	830	1,094	(24)%	(25)%
Total long-term savings	8,773	7,681	14%	14%
	12 months 2009 £m	Restated 12 months 2008 £m	Sterling change	Local currency change
Total life and pensions sales (PVNBP)1	32,003	36,245	(12)%	(17)%
Total investment sales2	3,872	3,995	(3)%	(9)%
Total long-term savings	35,875	40,240	(11)%	(17)%

¹ 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.

² Investment sales are calculated as new single premium plus the annualised value of new regular premiums.

 

Information

Investor contacts	Media contacts
Andrew Moss +44 (0)20 7662 2286 Philip Scott +44 (0)20 7662 2264 Charles Barrows +44 (0)20 7662 8115 Susie Yeoh +44 (0)20 7662 2117	Hayley Stimpson +44 (0)20 7662 7544 Andrew Reid +44 (0)20 7662 3131 Sue Winston +44 (0)20 7662 8221 Ed Simpkins/Matthew Newton (Finsbury) +44 (0)20 7251 3801

Media

There will be a conference call today for real-time media at 0745 hrs (GMT). The conference call will be hosted by Andrew Moss, group 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 (GMT) on +44 (0)20 7162 0125 (quoting “Aviva, Andrew Moss”, pass code 855891). This conference call will be hosted by Andrew Moss, group chief executive.

Replay will be available until 18 February 2010 on +44 (0)20 7031 4064. The pass code for the whole conference call, including the question and answer session, is 855891 and for the question and answer session only the pass code is 2703086.