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Bullish Aviva points to life sector recovery
Date: Fri, 01 Aug 03 Analysis
The insurance giant Aviva has revealed a higher than anticipated dividend and announced that the beleaguered life insurance and pensions market in the UK has started to recover.
The group's Finance director, Mike Biggs, said: 'There has been a definite stabilisation in the market, a flattening out. Savers are not yet into equity ISAs or with-profits bonds, but they are now looking at products that have some income guarantee.'
Smashing City expectations the insurer increased its dividend by three per cent, while operating profits fell by only 13 per cent to £828m - much lower than predicted.
In a tough market Aviva maintained global life and pensions sales at £1.2bn and increased margins by 24.5 per cent.
The effects of the fall in equity markets was also partially offset by a number of 'bancassurance' agreements with banks acros s t h e w o r l d , d e s i g n e d t o o p e n u p n e w m a r k e t s t o A v i v a p r o d u c t s .
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