Aviva Australia today announced interim new business results with both the Navigator platform and Aviva protection business delivering strong growth on the previous quarter.
Aviva Australia today announced interim new business results with both the Navigator platform and Aviva protection business delivering strong growth on the previous quarter.
Allan Griffiths, chief executive officer, Aviva Australia said: "We're delighted that new business is up this quarter given the tough economic conditions. We knew that the one off inflows of 2007 from ‘better super' would not be repeated but these results show our business continues to perform strongly".
Aviva Australia's Navigator platform increased gross inflows in the second quarter by 23% to A$1.04 billion on first quarter 2008. For the same period, net inflows were up 5% to A$381 million.
For the first half of 2008, gross inflows were down 31% on the 2007 result which was had been boosted by the one off impact of "better super". Net flows for the half year were down 49% on last year.
Navigator funds under administration fell by 9.2% to A$17 billion on the same time last year, with strong inflows reducing the impact of a 16% drop in asset values.
Aviva Australia's protection sales were up 11% on the first quarter to A$19.8 million, with a substantial increase of 14.1% to A$37.7 million on the same time last year.
Mr Griffiths said "Our protection business continues to power ahead and this growth has enabled us to expand our state based operations. In the first half of 2008 we opened new offices in Hobart and Cairns, and expanded our teams in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide."
Aviva's total funds under management and administration in Australia were A$23.3 billion as at 30 June 2008.
Aviva plc worldwide life and pension sales were up 11% to A$37.2 billion (£17.3 billion) with IFRS operating profit up 7% to A$2.6 billion (£1.2 billion).
Andrew Moss, group chief executive, commented: "In the face of economic headwinds Aviva has made real progress in the last six months. Operating profit and dividend are well ahead of last year and we maintain a strong balance sheet."
Regionally, Aviva Asia Pacific life and pension sales were up 20% to A$1.68 billion (£784 million) reflecting strong growth in China and India.
Aviva plc 2008 interim results are available at aviva.com
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Notes to editors:
About Aviva
We are the Australian face of the global Aviva group - a world leader in financial services.
Aviva is the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the largest insurance services provider in the United Kingdom. We are the leading provider of life and pension products in Europe and are actively growing our long-term savings businesses in Asian markets, the USA and Australia.
We have premium income and investment sales of $103.35 billion and $764.66 billion of assets under management. Our 57,000 employees serve over 45 million customers.
Aviva has over 150 years of continuous operation in Australia, where our main activities are life insurance, investments and superannuation.
Aviva's consistent record of innovation in the financial planning market dates back to the early 1990s when its Navigator technology and platform first allowed a range of investments to be consolidated into one portfolio. Today, Aviva continues to lead the industry with award-winning wealth creation and wealth protection products.
Together with Portfolio Partners, a funds management company which is also part of the Aviva group, we manage or administer more than $23 billion in funds for more than 300,000 customers (as at 30 June 2008).
*Aviva plc figures quoted are at 31 December 2007 and in Australian dollars.
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