LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - UK insurer Aviva on Wednesday reaffirmed annual guidance after reporting an increase in general insurance sales to their best level in a decade.
The company said general insurance gross written premiums rose 5% to £2.1bn, driven by a strong performance in commercial insurance in Britain and Canada. Life sales rose 1% to £8.7bn.

"We remain very well positioned to benefit from the long term growth trends in our markets, and to meet our upgraded financial targets. This is underpinned by our strong capital position which benefits from rising interest rates," said chief executive Amanda Blanc.

"We remain confident and on track to meet the cash remittance, own funds generation, and cost reduction targets. Our dividend guidance of £870m for 2022 and £915m for 2023 remains unchanged."

Earlier this week, Aviva released £3.75bb to shareholders via a B-share programme, and will also return a further £1bn by the end of this month.

Aviva, which is under pressure from activist investor Cevian Capital, added that was on track to deliver £750m worth of gross cost savings by 2024.

"We remain confident and on track to meet the cash remittance, own funds generation, and cost reduction targets outlined at our FY 2021 results presentation," the company said.

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