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Highlights
- Insurance sector is currently witnessing a host of consolidation activities aimed at strengthening positions and securing future growth prospects.
- Prudential reported a 17% year-on-year growth in life insurance new business sales in Asia and Africa to $2,083 million in H1 2021.
- Aviva registered an increase of 17% in operating profits from continuing operations to £725 million in HY 2021.
Insurance is a key necessity that people pay for, and insurance stocks can make a great addition to an investor’s portfolio. These stocks are usually deemed as safe investments and are known to offer consistent long-term returns. The sector is currently witnessing a host of consolidation activities aimed at strengthening positions and securing future growth prospects. Today, Global Risk Partners, an insurance intermediary group, acquired Willis Towers Watson’s Northern Ireland commercial risk and broking business. Yesterday, Aston Lark, a UK-based insurance broking firm backed by Goldman Sachs, took over S. Johnson & Co. Ltd.
(Data source: Company release and EODHD/Others)
Let us explore two FTSE 100 listed insurance stocks for investors who desire to have some insurance exposure.
Prudential Plc (LON: PRU)
FTSE 100 listed Prudential is a provider of asset management and health and life insurance services. Recently, it announced the completion of the demerger of Jackson Financial Inc. and collaborated with Invest Africa, a leading African trade and investment platform.
The shares of Prudential are currently trading at GBX 1,451.00, up by 0.83% at 10:04 AM BST on 5 October 2021.
Prudential reported a 17% year-on-year growth in life insurance new business sales in Asia and Africa to $2,083 million in H1 2021 and an increase of 25% year-on-year in new business profits. The company’s overall adjusted operating profit from continuing operations increased to $1,571 million in H1 2021 compared to $1,286 million in H1 2020.
For H1 2021, Prudential announced an interim ordinary dividend of US 5.37 cents per share to shareholders.
The shares of Prudential returned 28.63% in the last one year to shareholders, and the market cap of the company is £37,638.69 million as of 5 October 2021.
Aviva Plc (LON: AV.)
Aviva is a UK-based multinational provider of life and general insurance services. Last week, Aviva PLC completed the sale of its Italian general insurance business, Aviva Italia to Allianz for £284 million, and its French business to Aéma Groupe for a cash consideration of £2.8 billion ($3.8 billion).
The shares of Aviva are currently trading at GBX 401.30, up by 1.65% at 10:20 AM BST on 5 October 2021.
For H1 2021, Aviva announced an interim dividend of 7.35 pence per share to shareholders, payable 7 October 2021. The company registered an increase of 17% in operating profits from continuing operations to £725 million compared to £621 million in H1 2020.
The shares of Aviva returned 39.57% in the last one year to shareholders, and the market cap of the company is £15,293.97 million as of 5 October 2021.
