Extending our multi-year performance track record, with operating profit up 24%
Strong progress on Direct Line and confident outlook for the remainder of the year
Delivering our three-year Group targets and sustained longer-term growth
| Operating profit1 | Operating earnings per share1 | IFRS return on equity1 | Cash remittances | Interim dividend per share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,326m | 31.8p | 20.3% | £1,498m | 14.0p |
| +24% | +10% | +2.1pp | +47% | +7% |
| HY25: £1,068m | HY25: 29.0p | HY25: 18.2%2 | HY25: £1,022m | HY25: 13.1p |
Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Aviva’s results in the first half of 2026 were very strong, with operating profit up 24% to £1.3 billion. We have now achieved six consecutive years of excellent financial performance, with much more to come. We also continue to deliver for our shareholders and today we have increased the interim dividend by 7% to 14.0 pence per share.
“We are making very good progress with the integration of Direct Line. We have quickly improved Direct Line’s profitability, grown price comparison website sales, and maintained excellent levels of customer service. We are well on track to deliver all the financial benefits of the acquisition.
“We are confident that we will meet our three-year financial targets in 2028 and expect 75% of our earnings to be capital-light by that point. Beyond this, Aviva is in a great position to sustain strong earnings growth over the longer term, particularly in the high growth areas of Wealth, UK and Canada General Insurance, Global Corporate and Specialty, and Health and Protection.
“Our broad and now expanded range of products, 25 million strong customer base, market leading brand, and the rich and extensive data we have, are major competitive advantages which will drive our future growth. Together they represent a significant opportunity for Aviva to apply artificial intelligence to deliver an even better service to customers, meet more of our customers’ needs over their lifetime, and drive even more value for our shareholders. Aviva’s long-term prospects are very bright indeed.”
Strong performance with continued profitable growth momentum
- Group operating profit up 24%3 to £1,326m (HY25: £1,068m).
- Operating earnings per share up 10% to 31.8p (HY25: 29.0p).
- IFRS return on equity of 20.3% (HY25: 18.2%).
- Cash remittances up 47% to £1,498m (HY25: £1,022m).
- Solvency II shareholder cover ratio1 of 176% (FY25: 180%) towards the top end of our working range. Centre liquidity (July 26) of £1.5bn (Feb 26: £1.5bn).
- Solvency II debt leverage ratio of 30.8% (FY25: 30.1%).
- Interim dividend per share up 7% to 14.0p (HY25: 13.1p).
Confident in three-year Group targets and sustained longer-term growth
- Operating earnings per share up 10% to 31.8p (HY25: 29.0p) supported by growing operating profit - firmly on track for Group target of Operating EPS of 11% CAGR (2025-2028).
- IFRS return on equity of 20.3% (HY25: 18.2%) supported by growing operating result and consistent with our target of IFRS RoE >20%.
- Cash remittances up 47% to £1,498m (HY25: £1,022m) making strong progress towards Group target of >£7bn cumulative cash remittances (2026-2028).
- Sustaining longer-term growth supported by our leading customer franchise, transformation through AI, and long-term growth platforms across Wealth, UK General Insurance, Canada General Insurance, GCS, and Health and Protection.
Continued growth momentum across the Group
- General Insurance premiums4 up 29%5 to £8,093m (HY25: £6,290m). Group undiscounted COR of 93.3% (HY25: 94.6%) and discounted COR of 89.5% (HY25: 90.4%).
- UK&I General Insurance premiums up 42% to £5,910m (HY25: £4,141m) and undiscounted COR of 93.4% (HY25: 94.5%). UK personal lines premiums grew by 98% reflecting the acquisition of Direct Line and continued growth in Intermediated business. UK commercial lines premiums were just 1% lower in the discrete quarter reflecting strong April renewals and continued discipline.
- Canada General Insurance premiums up 3% to £2,183m (HY25: £2,149m) and undiscounted COR of 93.0% (HY25: 94.7%). Personal lines premiums grew 4% driven by pricing actions across auto and property. Commercial lines premiums up 2% as growth in GCS was partly offset by the competitive rating environment.
- Wealth net flows up 32% to £7.6bn (HY25: £5.8bn) driven by growth in Workplace benefitting from the onboarding of the initial transfers from the Mercer Master Trust and continued strength in Platform. AUM grew 25% to £261bn (HY25: £209bn).
- Protection sales4 were up 1% driven by strong new business sales in Group Protection, partly offset by lower Individual Protection sales.
- Health in-force premiums grew 5% to £1.1bn, driven by pricing actions ahead of inflation, while maintaining a low-90s COR. Sales4 of £51m (HY25: £76m) were lower reflecting slowing market growth and trading discipline in the consumer and SME channels.
- Retirement sales4 of £2.2bn (HY25: £2.9bn) with strong Individual Annuities sales (up 11%) and Equity Release (up 19%). BPA volumes were £1.1bn (HY25: £2.0bn), with IRRs of 18% reflecting our disciplined approach to pricing in a competitive market. BPA year-to-date volumes including deals where we are preferred provider have now reached £1.9bn.
- Aviva Investors delivered continued growth with total net flows of £1.5bn (HY25: outflows of £1.2bn) and with c.65% of Workplace net flows going into Aviva Investors’ funds.
| IFRS profit for the period | Solvency II OFG | Solvency II cover ratio | Solvency II debt leverage ratio | Centre liquidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £418m | £1,007m | 176% | 30.8% | £1,510m |
| (49)% | +11% | (4)pp | +0.7pp | +1% |
| HY25: £819m | HY25: £909m | FY25: 180% | FY25: 30.1% | Feb 26: £1,498m |
Direct Line integration and performance
We continue to make strong progress on the Direct Line integration, having completed the transfer of all Direct Line employees to Aviva. Importantly, we are maintaining high standards of customer service, with TNPS above 50 and improved motor claims satisfaction. We have also transferred nearly £5bn of assets to Aviva Investors.
Direct Line performance continues to improve, with stronger profitability supported by improved written CORs, and a return to growth in motor on PCWs where policies grew 7% this year.
£100m of run-rate cost synergies have been delivered towards our £225m cost synergy ambition and we remain on track to deliver >£350m capital synergies by the end of the year.
Building on our unique customer advantage and AI opportunity
As the UK’s largest insurer, we now serve 21.8m customers in the UK and over 25m globally. We continue to improve our propositions and service across each stage of the customer journey. We now have 7.2m multi-product holders and 46% of new sales are to existing customers.
We continue to invest in the business to support long-term growth, capture opportunities across our markets and accelerate transformation through artificial intelligence and data.
Our multi-channel distribution, scale, extensive proprietary data assets and single customer view underpin our unique customer advantage and provide strong foundations to deploy AI at scale across the Group.
We are already delivering tangible benefits from AI, from faster review times in medical underwriting to automated quality assurance in Wealth. There is more to come later in the year as we are set to launch our virtual assistant as well as rolling out our AI-enabled claims agent. Both of these solutions will be able to support our customers.
Confident outlook for 2026 and beyond
We are already majority capital-light6 and continue to accelerate by investing in key growth areas across our diversified business. The performance in the first half of 2026 reflects our continued momentum across the Group and gives us confidence for the remainder of the year.
We are on track to deliver our three-year Group targets: Operating EPS CAGR of 11% (2025-28); IFRS Return on Equity of >20% (by 2028); and Cash remittances of >£7bn (2026-28 cumulative).
Operating EPS growth in 2026 is now expected to be broadly in line with 11% target rate.
Cash remittances are weighted towards the first half in 2026, with c.£0.8bn of remittances expected in the second half.
We expect the solvency cover ratio to be in the high-180s by the end of the year, subject to market movements.
In General Insurance, we continue to manage the cycle with disciplined underwriting. We are firmly on track to meet our 2026 guidance for the UK&I GI business to achieve a COR of <94% and for the COR in Canada to be approaching 94%. In Commercial Lines, we expect the softer rating environment to persist for the remainder of the year and will continue to prioritise underwriting discipline. We expect to see continued momentum on the Direct Line integration and business turnaround, with c.£130m cumulative run-rate cost synergies and >£350m of remaining capital synergies by the end of 2026.
In Wealth, we expect growth to remain strong, supported by continued momentum in Platform and Workplace, with additional Mercer Master Trust scheme flows by the end of the year. We remain firmly on track to deliver our ambition for £280m operating profit by 2027. We will provide a further update on the business at our Wealth In Focus session in October.
In Health, with slowing market growth in consumer and SME channels, we now expect operating profit for 2026 to be c.£90m. We will continue to invest in the business to capture this attractive long-term growth opportunity.
In Individual Annuities, we expect continued growth, supported by strong demand and the launch of new propositions. While BPA market conditions remain competitive, we continue to trade actively and have written £1.9bn year-to-date. We will maintain pricing discipline and write business above our low-teens IRR hurdle.
Financial Review
Summary financial performance
| £m (unless otherwise stated) | ||||
| IFRS results | ||||
| HY26 | HY25 | Change | FY25 | |
| Business unit operating profit | 1,547 | 1,271 | 22 % | 2,670 |
| Corporate centre costs, Group external debt costs and Other | (221) | (203) | (9) % | (467) |
| Operating Profit | 1,326 | 1,068 | 24 % | 2,203 |
| Operating earnings per share | 31.8 p | 29.0 p | 10 % | 56.0 p |
| IFRS profit for the perioda | 418 | 819 | (49) % | 1,054 |
| Basic earnings per share | 12.2 p | 21.7 p | (44) % | 26.9 p |
| IFRS return on equity | 20.3 % | 18.2 % | 2.1 pp | 17.5 % |
| HY26 | FY25 | Change | HY25 | |
| IFRS Shareholders’ equity | 8,910 | 9,694 | (8) % | 7,423 |
| IFRS Contractual service margin (CSM) | 7,700 | 7,723 | — % | 7,779 |
| Cash and dividends | ||||
| HY26 | HY25 | Change | FY25 | |
| Cash remittances | 1,498 | 1,022 | 47 % | 2,077 |
| Interim dividend per share | 14.0 p | 13.1 p | 7 % | 13.1 p |
| Jul 26 | Feb 26 | Change | Jul 25 | |
| Centre liquidity | 1,510 | 1,498 | 1 % | 2,103 |
| Solvency II capital and leverage | ||||
| HY26 | HY25 | Change | FY25 | |
| Operating capital generation (OCG) | 911 | 957 | (5) % | 2,452 |
| HY26 | FY25 | Change | HY25 | |
| Shareholder cover ratio | 176 % | 180 % | (4) pp | 206 % |
| Debt leverage ratio | 30.8 % | 30.1 % | 0.7 pp | 32.3 % |
| a. IFRS profit for the year is after tax | ||||
Customer numbers
| Millions | HY26 | HY25 | Change | FY25 |
| UK, Ireland and Canada | 25.3 | 20.8 | 21 % | 25.2 |
Download our Half Year results 2026 announcement (PDF 4.32 MB)
Download our Half Year results 2026 financial results pack (PDF 3.89 MB)
Download our Half Year results 2026 presentation (PDF 2.28 MB)
Join our half year results 2026 update for investors and analysts
Watch our half year results 2026 video with Group CEO, Amanda Blanc DBE
Transcript for video Watch our half year results 2026 video with Group CEO, Amanda Blanc DBE
Today we are announcing that Aviva has delivered another excellent performance in our first half of 2026, once again extending our track record of strong, profitable growth. Operating profit is up 24%, with double-digit growth in operating earnings per share. And we are driving higher returns, with IFRS return on equity above 20%. Our interim dividend is up 7% year-on-year and we completed the latest share buyback last month.
Every business contributed to these results. For example – in General Insurance, premiums are up 29%. In Wealth, net flows are up 32%, driven by all parts of the business. And over the last 12 months, we have also grown by more than 250,000 customers.
In Retirement, both Individual Annuity and Equity Release sales were up double digits. These results are testament to everything that we have delivered over the last six years. That is why we are on such a strong trajectory. Behind every number in these results is a colleague making a difference for customers and I’d like to thank the team for their commitment, skill and hard work.
Let me focus now on where we go from here. We think about Aviva’s future across two horizons. The first is our three-year targets. We have real confidence in these as we unlock material benefits from Direct Line and drive strong organic growth across the group.
The second horizon is what comes beyond 2028. Here, we have three clear opportunities: First – our customer advantage is unique and we can serve more of our customers’ lifetime financial needs than any other insurer. We have more than 25 million customers, and nearly half of all of the new policies sold today are to existing customers. We are the number one trusted brand, with a full product suite to meet needs across a lifetime.
Second – we are transforming with AI, with a greater opportunity than most insurers. Our scale means that we can invest, innovate and redeploy across the group. We have huge volumes of proprietary data, an advantage that cannot be replicated, and one that will widen over time. And our transformation here is well underway.
We are launching an AI virtual assistant for customer support. In Protection, we have halved the time it takes to review each case in medical underwriting. In claims, we are building a voice-enabled AI claims agent. And in Wealth, we are using agentic AI to automate quality assurance.
Our third opportunity is in our attractive long-term growth platforms. Wealth remains a fast-growing market. We are also the clear market leader in UK General Insurance. In Global Corporate and Specialty, we have real headroom to grow.
And in Canada, we are one of just two players with a truly national presence, with attractive opportunities in both Personal Lines and Commercial Lines. It’s for all these reasons that we have absolute confidence in our current targets – and the full conviction in sustaining strong earnings growth beyond them.
Footnotes
1. References to operating profit represent Group adjusted operating profit, which is an APM. Operating earnings per share and IFRS return on equity are derived from Group adjusted operating profit. Solvency II shareholder cover ratio is the estimated Solvency II shareholder cover ratio at 30 June 2026.
2. For 2025, IFRS RoE has been normalised to reflect the impacts of the Direct Line acquisition on 1 July 2025, as if it had taken place on 1 January 2025, including annualisation of earnings from Direct Line within operating profit and adjustment of £2,322 million of equity issued in part consideration for the acquisition.
3. Operating profit for the six months ended 30 June 2026 includes results from Direct Line, not included in the six months ended 30 June 2025.
4. Sales for Retirement (Annuities and Equity Release) refers to Present Value of New Business Premiums (PVNBP). Sales for Insurance (Protection and Health) refers to Annual Premium Equivalent (APE). Premiums for General insurance refer to gross written premiums (GWP). The first instance of each reference has been footnoted, however this footnote applies throughout. PVNBP, APE and GWP are APMs.
5. All GWP movements are quoted in constant currency.
6. Capital-light refers to Aviva’s General Insurance, Wealth, Protection and Health and Aviva Investors business. Capital-light earnings are based on Business unit operating profit excluding IWR Other and International Investments.
Enquiries
Investor contacts:
Michael O'Hara
+44(0) 7387 234 388
Giles White
+44(0) 7385 011 249
Media contacts:
Andrew Reid
+44 (0)7800 694 276
Sarah Swailes
+44 (0)7800 694 859
Alice Constable
+44(0) 7350 398 942
Timings:
Presentation slides: 0700 hrs BST
Real time media conference call: 0745 hrs BST
Analyst presentation: 0900 hrs BST
Notes to editors
- We are the UK's only diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
- We help our 25.3 million customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
- We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2025, we paid £31.9 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
- Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people
- As at 30 June 2026, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £479 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £6.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
- For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
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