OREANDA-NEWS. Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Aviva's turnaround is delivering. Our key metrics have improved again. Year to date, our net asset value is 10% higher; value of new business is up 15%1 and the general insurance combined ratio improved to 95.9%.

"The steps we have taken to focus and strengthen the Group mean we are in a different position to two years ago.

"Notwithstanding this progress, there is still more to do before we can be satisfied we are fully delivering on our investment thesis of cash flow plus growth."

Cash flow

Progress in cash remittances expected at FY14

Operating capital generation £1.3 billion (9M13: £1.3 billion)

Value of new business

Value of new business grew 15%1 to £690 million3 (9M13: £619 million2,3)

Balanced product mix with VNB split 36% protection, 35% savings and 20% annuities

Increase driven by strong performance in Europe (40%1) and Asia (47%1)

UK life returned to growth in the 3rd quarter, with VNB up 18%. 9M14 VNB 9% lower

Expenses

Momentum on expense efficiency has continued

Combined operating ratio

Combined operating ratio (COR) of 95.9% (9M13: 96.9%)

UK COR improved by 1.4 percentage points to 94.1% (9M13: 95.5%)

Canada COR of 96.8% (9M13: 95.2%) impacted by worse weather and fire losses

Balance sheet

IFRS net asset value increased 10% year to date to 298p (FY13: 270p)

Economic capital4 surplus £7.9 billion (FY13: £8.3 billion)