Aviva suffers £3bn loss in 2012 and slashes dividend

Insurance firm Aviva suffered a loss of £3bn in 2012 due to a £3.3bn writedown from the sale of its US business last year.

The group also slashed its final dividend by 44% from 16p to 9p per share and from 26p to 19p for the full year, a cut of 27%. Mark Wilson, group chief executive officer, said: "2012 was a year of transition at Aviva. "The rebasing of the dividend and the elimination of the dilutive scrip is about giving certainty to shareholders, reducing debt, and putting Aviva in a sound position for the future. This is the right course of action." Meanwhile, operating profit was down slightly on the 2011 figure of £1.86bn to £1.78bn, partly due to the adverse foreign exchange impact of £65m. ...