Aviva beats profit estimates as insurance premiums soar

(Reuters) -British insurer Aviva beat annual profit expectations on double-digit growth in its general insurance premiums in 2024, and said its planned 3.7-billion-pound acquisition of smaller rival Direct Line was on track.

The company, which offers car, home and life insurance in the UK, Ireland and Canada, reported operating profit of 1.77 billion pounds ($2.24 billion) for the year ended December 31, 2024, above a company-compiled analysts' consensus of 1.67 billion pounds.

Many insurers have enjoyed a profitable year by raising premiums for motor and home insurance in the face of inflation and natural disasters, including wildfires and storms.

Aviva's annual general insurance gross written premiums for the year rose 14% to 12.2 billion pounds, while growth at its UK and Ireland insurance, wealth and retirement business also exceeded expectations.

Shares in Aviva rose 1.9% in early trade to their highest since May 2018.

"There is so much untapped potential for Aviva to go after and I have real confidence in our ability to unlock this," CEO Amanda Blanc said in a statement.

However, annual operating profit in Canada was slashed by a quarter over the year, following a spate of costly natural disasters.

Canada recorded its largest ever insured annual losses of C$8.5 billion in 2024, following wildfires in Jasper, a hailstorm in Calgary and flooding in major cities, data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada released last month showed.

Insurers like Aviva have long since recognised the pressures climate change have imposed on sound underwriting and in 2021, Aviva became the world's first insurer to announce its ambition to become net zero by 2040.

It said on Thursday it remained committed to the task.

The United States has in recent weeks derided net zero carbon emission targets, in line with President Donald Trump's agenda. Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticised the British government's attempts to hit clean energy targets.

"While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva's operations and influence over our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global system," it said in a statement.

($1 = 0.7900 pounds)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Shashwat Awasthi, editing by Sinead Cruise and Tomasz Janowski)