AV. Aviva Plc

By Sabela Ojea

Aviva PLC said Thursday that trading for the first nine months of the year has been resilient and that it is declaring a dividend for the first half.

The FTSE 100 listed insurer said performance was driven by its core markets, partially offset by declines in the manage-for-value portfolio as margin was prioritized over volume.

U.K. and Ireland Life new business sales rose 40% to 9.2 million pounds ($12.3 million) for the nine-month period, with value of new business increased 5% to GBP203 million.

In Continental Europe, present value of new business premiums fell 21% to GBP9.3 billion, while net written premiums rose 4% to GBP1.27 billion in the area, mainly due to rate increases in France. Value of new business fell to GBP411 million from GBP510 million in the year-earlier period due to lower volumes.

At Sept. 30, the company's Solvency II ratio--which represents capital strength--is expected at around 195%, from 194% for the first half of the year, with a capital surplus of GBP11.8 billion.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2020 02:52 ET (07:52 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.