Insurance group Aviva said third quarter performance across the business has been very strong, and is confident about the outlook.

Chief executive Amanda Blanc said quarter after quarter it is “delivering consistently superior results and growing Aviva, particularly in the capital-light businesses”.

General insurance premiums are up 15%, and wealth net flows of £7.7bn are 21% higher reflecting continued growth in workplace pensions and strong demand from its financial adviser platform business.

The bulk purchase annuity market remains very active and it has increased volumes, at good margins and disciplined capital usage, to £6.1bn.

The life, motor and home insurer, whose main businesses are in Britain, Canada and Ireland, also reported a 67% rise in retirement sales to £7.3 billion, helped by strong performance in bulk annuities, insurance for defined benefit pension schemes.

“Aviva’s large and growing customer base is a major advantage, contributing to our excellent performance,” said Ms Blanc

“Over the last four years we have increased customer numbers by 1.2m to 19.6m. We now have five million UK customers with more than one policy and, as the UK’s leading diversified insurer, the potential to grow this further is huge.

“Aviva is financially strong, trading well each quarter and has significant opportunities for further growth. We are confident about the outlook for the rest of 2024 and beyond, growing the dividend and achieving the Group’s financial targets.”

Burberry turnaround plan

Burberry’s new CEO Joshua Schulman has unveiled a turnaround strategy for the struggling luxury brand following a slide in sales.

The retailer has suspended its dividend for 2025 and announced a £40 million cost savings programme as it turns it focus back on outerwear and its core customer.

Mr Schulman unveiled his strategy alongside half-year results showing a £53 million half-year operating loss from a £223m profit last time.

He said: “Over the past several years, we moved too far from our core with disappointing results.

“Our brand expression was focused on being modern at the expense of celebrating our heritage. We introduced new brand codes and signifiers that were unfamiliar to our customers.”

FirstGroup ‘robust’

Transport company FirstGroup has posted a ‘robust’ operational and financial performance in the first half, slightly ahead of full year expectations, with the board announcing an additional £50 million buyback programme.

Adjusted revenue rose to £649.6m (H1 2024 £634.8m) reflecting strong underlying performance in First Bus and good demand in First Rail open access

Group adjusted operating profit came in at £100.8m, positively affected by an extra week of trading.

The board has declared an Interim dividend of 1.7p per share (H1 2024: 1.5p per share).

WH Smith

Stationery and travel agency chain WH Smith reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue as it hailed a particularly strong performance from the UK travel business and over the summer.

In the year to the end of August, group profit before tax and non-underlying items rose 16% to £166m, while total group revenue was up 7% at £1.92bn.

Chief executive Carl Cowling said: “The group has delivered an excellent performance throughout the year, particularly over the key summer trading period.

“Our travel divisions are trading well with a particularly strong performance from our UK Travel business, with trading profit up 20% to £122m. We are making excellent progress in the UK as we continue to benefit from the rollout of our one-stop-shop format which is creating significant opportunities to further grow profitability.

“Our most exciting opportunity for growth is in North America. We are very pleased to have recently won some significant new airport business, including wins at Dallas, Denver and Washington Dulles airports, and we are the preferred bidder for a further 15 stores across two major US airports. Our store opening programme is on track and we have a new store pipeline of circa 60 stores already won.”

Kier Group

Kier Group, which holds its AGM today, said it has started the financial year strongly, with a solid trading performance and a growing order book now estimated at £10.9 billion.

The construction and civil engineering company has secured significant contracts, including a £3.7 billion partnership with Wessex Water and a £100 million project with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, positioning itself to benefit from UK Government infrastructure investments.

Chief executive Andrew Davies said: “The current financial year has started well and we are trading in line with our expectations.

“We are well positioned to benefit from UK government infrastructure spending plans into areas where Kier offers market leading services. These strong structural drivers and further investments will allow us to further generate shareholder returns.”

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