'Blood on the trading floor' as Aviva dives 14%

Blue chip insurer Aviva's shares have fallen 14% after the group revealed a £3bn loss in 2012 caused by a huge writedown in its US business.

The company - famed for its adverts using comedian Paul Whitehouse - topped the list of fallers on the FTSE 100, down 13.5% currently at 311.1p, having fallen as low as 303.5p - or over 15% - initially. The dive in the share price came after the group reported the huge loss, which was caused by a writedown of £3.3bn 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%. Aviva's Mark Wilson, group chief executive officer, said 2012 had been a 'transition' year for the ...