Aviva revival targets fail to ignite share price

UK insurer Aviva said it aimed to double the excess cash it generates during the next stage of a turnaround plan, but its shares fell on concerns the plan did not go far enough.

Aviva has laid off staff, spun off some businesses and shaken up its asset management arm. By promising bigger returns from those measures, the firm is trying to satisfy income hunting investors.

Aviva said yesterday it aimed to double annual excess cashflow to £800 million by the end of 2016 and lower its ratio of operating expenses to operating income to below 50 per cent over the same period, from 54 per cent at the end of 2013.

But the latest changes failed to drive Aviva's share value. Eamonn Flanagan, an analyst at Shore Capital, said that while the targets were "good", they were not "overly challenging". – (Reuters)