Aviva PLC posts excellent results in 2007

* Total worldwide sales up 25% to £38,583 million
* Worldwide life and pension sales up 22% to £31, 600 million
* UK; total sales up by 6% to £14,406 million
* Europe; total sales growth of 19% to £16,486 million
* North America; excellent performance with pro forma 39% increase in total sales to £3,602 million
* Asia Pacific; ahead of growth targets with total sales up 60% to £4,089 million
* Investment sales continue to deliver robust growth – up 41% to £6,983 million
* Update on UK adverse weather and group COR: estimated cost increased by £75 million to £475 million and COR of 100%, 95% before the impact of the exceptional adverse weather

Aviva PLC, the world's fifth largest insurance group in the world which acquired the controlling interest in Eagle Insurance in 2006, has just reported a highly successful year in 2007 increasing its total worldwide sales up by 25% to £38,583 million, a company release said. The Asia Pacific region was ahead of its growth targets with total sales up by 60% to £4,089 million and the Investment sales continue to deliver robust growth – up 41% to £6,983 million.

Andrew Moss, Aviva's group chief executive, commented: "In line with our priority of focusing on growing our existing businesses, I'm very pleased to report that Aviva has achieved total sales growth of 25% in 2007. In Europe, we've delivered impressive growth across our portfolio, and in the US we're on track to double our sales within three years of our acquisition of AmerUs. Asia Pacific has shown exceptionally strong growth and the region now accounts for around 11% of the group's sales. UK growth is in line with the market and our priority there remains to focus on profitability.

"Following the exceptional weather conditions in the UK in June and July last year, our general insurance business helped over 45,000 households and 6,000 businesses get back on their feet after the floods. The costs of these events will be higher than we first estimated and, as expected, the floods have had an impact on the group's full year COR. I'm pleased to say that without these exceptional claims we would have achieved a COR of 95%, some 3% better than our 'meet or beat' target.

"Aviva has a broad portfolio of products across the world. While our markets will be affected by at the current economic uncertainly, I believe we will continue to grow both new business sales and profit in 2008 in line with our stated targets. We will do this by maintaining a strong focus on increasing our customer reach and delivering our 'One Aviva, twice the value' vision."

Aviva is the world's oldest insurance group, with a history dating back to 1696. The Group has 59,000 employees serving 40 million customers in over 25 countries with more than Sterling Pounds 364 billion assets under management. Aviva Plc is the largest insurer in the UK and one of the leading providers of life and pension products to Europe. Its main activities are Long Term Savings, Fund Management, and General Insurance.