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Highlights
- On Thursday, Aviva Plc’ (LON: AV.) shares reached eight-week highs on the announcement that it would return a minimum of £4 billion to shareholders.
- Aviva has raised £7.5 billion as it sold eight businesses since Amanda Blanc was appointed as the CEO in July 2020.
- In June, Cevian Capital had said that in 2022, Aviva should return £5 billion of excess capital
On Thursday, Aviva Plc’ (LON: AV.) shares reached eight-week highs, following an announcement by the British insurer that it would return a minimum of £4 billion to shareholders, owing to pressure from Cevian, its activist investor.
Aviva has raised £7.5 billion as it sold eight businesses since Amanda Blanc was appointed CEO in July 2020. The general and life insurance company had earlier said it would be returning shareholders’ money but had not disclosed the amount.
In June, Cevian Capital had said that in 2022, the insurance company should return £5 billion of excess capital and revealed that it had built almost a 5 per cent stake in Aviva. The shares of Aviva were up 3.93 per cent and were trading at GBX 422.80. The shares have a market capitalisation of £15,985.52 million and have a one-year return of 40.73 per cent.
Let us explore how some other FTSE-listed insurance stocks are performing:
Abrdn Plc (LON:ABDN)
The global life insurance company’s shares were down 0.95 per cent and were trading at GBX 290.80 at 12:08 GMT+1 on 12 August.
The shares have a market capitalisation of £6,402.61 million and a one-year return of 6.67 per cent.
For the first half of 2021, the company’s fee-based revenue was up 7 per cent and adjusted operating profit was up 52 per cent compared to the last year, the highest growth rate since the merger. It also reported higher adjusted operating profits across all arms – Adviser was up 61 per cent, Investments was up 33 per cent, and for the first time, Personal also reported a small profit.
Legal & General (LON:LGEN)
The British financial services company’s shares were down 1.54 per cent and were trading at GBX 275.40 at 12:08 GMT+1 on 12 August.
The shares have a market capitalisation of £16,697.87 million and have a one-year return of 15.37 per cent.
The company’s operating profit for the first half of 2021 was up 14 per cent to £1,079 million compared to £946 million in the same period a year ago. Earnings per share was up 21 per cent to 17.78 pence, up compared to 14.74 pence in 2019, and significantly increasing from 4.89 pence a year ago in the same period.
Conclusion
Insurance stocks would be a key area to look out for, especially Aviva and other FTSE-listed insurance companies with strong fundamentals and robust financial performances. People are more concerned after the pandemic and are seriously looking for insurance, which makes the outlook strong for these companies.
