Aviva PLC (LSE:AV.) seemed to deliver higher profits than expected for last year and rewarded investors with a 7% dividend increase.
It was hard to tell as the life insurer's results were not presented in a simple format but only with a distracting lets-get-our-graphic-designer-on-this layout normally reserved for the final annual report and accounts.
Adjusted operating profit was £1.77 billion, up 20% on the previous year and beating the analyst consensus of £1.71 billion, per LSEG.
Gross written premiums swelled 121% to £12.2 billion but other numbers headed lower, including statutory profits, which fell 36% to £705 million. The Solvency II ratio dropped to £1.66 billion.
Aviva also announced a final dividend of 23.8p per share, making a total for the year of 35.7p, an increase of 7%, which is on top of a £300 million share buyback earlier in the year.
Dividend guidance remained for "mid-single digit" percentage growth in the cash cost of the dividend.
Otherwise on the outlook, the FTSE 100 group said it had confidence in medium-term financial targets, including £2 billion of adjusted operating profit by 2026 and up to £5.8 billion of cumulative cash remittances between 2024 and 2026.