Aviva’s share price climbed 3.6% on Thursday, reaching its highest level since December 2007, after the FTSE 100 insurer reported robust first-half results and confirmed solid progress integrating Direct Line.
Operating profit for the first half of 2025 rose 22% year-on-year to £1.1 billion, the group announced.
Chief executive Amanda Blanc hailed the performance as “outstanding,” noting that the profit growth extended Aviva’s “track record of delivery.” She added:
“Another set of high-quality results, combined with excellent strategic progress, are further evidence of how we are pushing Aviva forward. This excellent performance allows us to achieve even more for our customers and shareholders, and today we are increasing the interim dividend to 13.1 pence per share.”
Blanc also confirmed that integration of Direct Line—acquired in December for £3.7 billion—is “well underway.”
Thursday’s rally marks a notable milestone for Aviva, which last reached these price levels before the global financial crisis—when it still traded under its historic Norwich Union name, first adopted by a 19th-century wine merchant and banker after failing to find insurance cover against highwaymen.
