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INTERVIEW-Aviva CEO says capital strong, no disposals planned

Published 07/15/2009, 01:04 PM
Updated 07/15/2009, 01:08 PM
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* Says capital position "has been getting stronger"

* Says "content" with sale of Aviva Australia

* Declines comment on whether Resolution has made approach

By Myles Neligan

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - UK insurer Aviva's regulatory capital cushion is getting stronger, and the group is not planning any further disposals, its chief executive, Andrew Moss, said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters, Moss said Aviva, the UK's second-biggest insurer, had called time on disposals after offloading Aviva Australia to National Australia Bank in June. "At the moment, I think we're content with the move that we've made in Australia," Moss said.

The Australian deal will add 400 million pounds ($655.5 million) to Aviva's regulatory capital buffer, the company said last month.

Moss said that would reinforce a steady improvement in the Aviva's capital position since March, when worries over the impact of dividend commitments and rising bond defaults wiped a third off the group's share price in a single day.

"Those concerns were clearly misplaced, and I think we've proved that," Moss said.

"The capital position of the group is very strong and it's been getting stronger."

Aviva said in May that stronger financial markets had lifted its regulatory capital surplus to 2.8 billion pounds, from 2.5 billion pounds at the end of March.

Moss declined to comment on whether the group had received an approach from Resolution, the acquisitions vehicle founded by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery.

Shares in Aviva have risen by 16 percent since the beginning of the week against a 5 percent rise in the FTSE 100 share index, helped by news on Monday that Resolution had made a bid approach for rival insurer Friends Provident, later rejected as too low.

Analysts at Shore Capital last week named Aviva as a potential target for Resolution, set up last year to buy and consolidate life insurers and asset managers.

Aviva shares closed at 4.5 percent higher at 321.75 pence on Wednesday, valuing the company at about 7 billion pounds.

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