LONDON--(Marketwire - Aug 9, 2012) -

 News Release Aviva plc Interim Results Statement 6 months to 30 June 2012 9 August 2012 * Interim operating profit before restructuring costs down 2% * Interim operating profit after restructuring costs down 10% - Impact of restructuring costs, foreign exchange, UK weather * GBP876 million writedown of US goodwill * Dividend held at 10p per share Dear shareholders, Aviva plc today announced its interim results for the first half of 2012. Operating profit (including restructuring costs) was down 10% to GBP935 million(1) (HY11 GBP1,035 million) as a result of the sale of RAC, adverse foreign exchange movements, the adverse impact of recent UK weather and higher restructuring costs as we implement the strategic plan. Interim operating profit before restructuring costs was down 2% to GBP1,121 million. There was a net loss after tax of GBP681 million (HY11 profit after tax: GBP465 million). At the half year we concluded that it was necessary to write down GBP876 million of goodwill and intangibles in our US business. The interim dividend is held at 10p per share. General insurance operating profit has marginally improved with a combined operating ratio of 95.5%. Life insurance operating profit was lower overall, with stable operating profits in the UK, our largest market, offset by lower profits from overseas, mainly from the eurozone. Aviva's capital position is ahead of full year 2011. At 30 June 2012 our group economic capital surplus was GBP4.5 billion (ratio: c.140%) and the IGD solvency surplus was GBP3.1 billion (ratio: c.150%). In July, we announced our revised strategic plan and execution is on track. The first priority remains to build Aviva's financial strength. In the second quarter we reduced our Italian sovereign bond holdings by just under EUR2 billion(2). In July we sold 21% of Delta Lloyd, bringing our holding below 20%. We expect to announce further progress in the delivery of our plan in the second half of the year. We have also committed to reduce the cost base by GBP400 million. We have already removed the regional layer of our structure, reduced the number of management layers and have made substantive changes to promote a sharper performance ethic across the group. While this has been a challenging first half, we are taking the necessary actions to improve our position going forward. This environment is likely to continue and therefore we expect second half performance trends to be broadly similar to the first six months, but with higher restructuring costs as we implement our strategic plan. John McFarlane, Chairman (1) All numbers are on a continuing basis, which for the comparative period excludes Delta Lloyd as a discontinued operation. (2) This is equivalent to a reduction in shareholder exposure in participating and shareholder funds, net of minority interests and market movements of just under GBP1 billion. Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the associated PDF document. [ http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6393J_1-2012-8-8.pdf ] Contacts Investor contacts Pat Regan +44 (0)20 7662 2228 Charles Barrows +44 (0)20 7662 8115 David Elliot +44 (0)207 662 8048 Media contacts Nigel Prideaux +44 (0)20 7662 0215 Andrew Reid +44 (0)20 7662 3131 Sue Winston +44 (0)20 7662 8221 Timings Media conference call 0730 hrs BST Analyst presentation 0930 hrs BST Presentation slides available at [ www.aviva.com ] from 0700 hrs BST Live webcast [ www.aviva.com ] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END