Operating profits at Aviva Ireland rise by 20%
Aviva Ireland has reported a 20% hike in operating profit for 2016 as it continues to turn around its financial performance following a major restructuring. The insurer said full-year profits rose climbed to €81.9 million last year from €68 million in 2015. The company’s general insurance business recorded a 19% rise in net written premium to €461 million from €388 million as its combined operating ratio, a key measure for profitability in general insurance, was 91.1%, 3½ percentage points better than the same period last year.
Operating profit rose by 25% at the division to €49.9 million boosted by benign weather conditions throughout 2016. “We increased our customer numbers while maintaining our strategy of providing cover at a price that is competitive and sustainable. The number of customers doing business with us digitally has doubled and we have seen a 90% increase in the number who have bought more than one of our products,” chief executive John Quinlan said.
Operating profits at Aviva Ireland’s life insurance business increased 14% to €32 million as the value of new business rose 31% to €29.1 million. “Growth has been particularly strong in our range of post retirement products but volumes were up in a large number of products where we outperformed the market,” Mr Quinlan said.
Aviva Ireland, which employs 1,150 people in Dublin, Galway and Cork, provides insurance to a million customers. In 2012, the group reduced its employee headcount by 55% and closed all its branches. It also removed a third of its motor portfolio that same year, withdrawing from certain segments of the market as it sought to turn around its financial performance.
