British insurer Aviva said Thursday that it fell into a net loss in the first half, hit by restructuring costs, adverse foreign exchange movements and bad weather.
Aviva said in a results statement that it made a loss after taxation of £745 million ($1.17 billion, 943 million euros) in the six months to June, compared with a net profit of £125 million a year earlier.
The results also reflected lower contributions from Dutch group Delta Lloyd, in which it sold a 21-percent stake in July, cutting its shareholding to under 20 per cent.
The insurer said it has reduced its Italian sovereign bond holdings by just under 2.0 billion euros, as it seeks to build the group’s financial strength amid the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis.
“While this has been a challenging first half, we are taking the necessary actions to improve our position going forward,” chairman John McFarlane said in the statement.
“This environment is likely to continue and therefore we expect second-half performance trends to be broadly similar to the first six months, but with higher restructuring costs as we implement our strategic plan.”
Aviva is seeking to focus on core insurance and savings businesses in priority markets. The group sold British roadside rescue division RAC to private equity firm Carlyle for £1.0 billion last year.
It also offloaded businesses in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania to US peer MetLife for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.
London, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP)
