US Edition Aviva
457.3p +7.6
Questor says Buy
Since taking over from Richard Harvey in July 2007, the Oxford-educated, qualified accountant has endured a mixed relationship with the company's shareholders and has been accused of lacking charisma by his fellow insurers.
Most of the criticism Mr Moss has faced has been linked to the performance of Aviva's share price, which has been eclipsed by its larger rival Prudential. The insurance group, which uses television ads featuring Paul Whitehouse to sell policies, has suffered as fears persist that it is disjointed, debt-laden and lacking effective leadership.
However, over the past year this criticism has eased as the restructuring measures Mr Moss and his executive team have implemented begin to bear fruit. Questor, which first tipped Aviva in March 2009 at 392.1p, recognised this in May last year and tipped the shares again at 319.9p. Since then, they have risen 43pc, compared with the FTSE 100 up 11.5pc – justifying Aviva as one of Questor's tips of the year.
Aviva is the world's sixth-largest insurance group and the largest provider of insurance services in the UK. The company has a sizeable presence across most of continental Europe, with smaller units in North America and Asia.
In late 2009, the company announced the partial flotation of its Dutch subsidiary Delta Lloyd and streamlined its continental European business into a single unit, run from Ireland. Since then, the company has also issued challenging targets on its debt, detailing plans to cut its hybrid debt by £700m over the next three years in January.
On Thursday, Mr Moss wore the look of a man who knew things were beginning to turn his way as he unveiled Aviva's full-year results, showing pre-tax profits jump 35pc to £2.44bn, and the company raised its total dividend by 6pc to 25.5p.
Mr Moss played down speculation the company would make an audacious £7bn bid for its rival RSA. Instead, he said Aviva would continue to focus on its 12 core markets – and make disposals in the remaining 18 the company has if they continue to underperform.
The company said it had also eliminated its troublesome pension deficit, which stood at £1.7bn at the end of 2009.
Aviva shares currently yield 5.9, rising to 6.3 next year. This remains attractive and payments can be reinvested to generate even greater returns over time.
Questor says buy.