Aviva chief warns ‘lessons must be learned’ as profits rise to €57m

THE CEO of Aviva Ireland has warned that lessons must be learnt from the recent past in order to create “a sustainable, competitive trading landscape” in the insurance market.

As he unveiled half-year results, which saw Aviva’s profits rise to €57m in the six months to June 30, John Quinlan said that a landscape in which “prudent, well-regulated insurers can serve the best interests of their customers” needs to be created.

“We are pricing on a realistic and sustainable basis in order to protect our customers from the volatility in the cost of pre- miums this market has seen in recent years,” he said.

Deducting for pension charges and other costs, the operating profit at Aviva was €54m.

However the group’s general insurance profit, at €43m, is slightly down on the same sixmonth period last year.

The group’s combined operating ratio, a key measure for profitability in general insurance, experienced a deterioration on last year, but Aviva said it remains strong at 87pc.

Aviva’s general insurance business saw its net written premiums remain in line with the first half of 2017 at €255m.

In its life insurance business, the present value of the group’s new business premiums was

€494m, down from €574m in

2017, as increased competition in the market impacted its performance.

However the overall profit reported in the life insurance business was €14m, up from

€7m in the first half of 2017, due to what the company said was an improving outlook for the performance of its existing book of business.

‘We are pricing to protect customers from volatility in cost of premiums’