Aviva will take rest of year to find new CEO
AVIVA yesterday admitted it will take the rest of 2012 to find a new chief executive, as it announced it had seen a five per cent drop in life insurance sales for the first quarter.
Andrew Moss, the insurer’s former boss, last week became the highest-profile casualty of the shareholder spring when he quit after 59 per cent of investors voted against the company’s remuneration report – part of a wider protest against the company’s underperforming shares.
Incoming chairman John McFarlane, currently running the business on an interim basis, said he would “take the necessary actions and decisions to improve the standing and performance of the group” at “an important time for Aviva”.
He also confirmed that the group will get rid of units “where the prognosis for the future is not ideal”, continuing a long-term strategy of selling underperforming units.
Aviva is badly exposed to the Eurozone crisis, with almost 40 per cent of its operating profit generated in mainland Europe last year.
Life and pension sales in recession-struck Italy and Spain were down 23 per cent for the quarter as consumers there saved and invested less.
Shares in the firm, which have lost almost 40 per cent of their value in the last six months, dropped a further two per cent yesterday.
But Barrie Cornes, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, issued a “buy” recommendation: “The shares are being driven by Europe but, on a 12 month view, we believe that the current share price represents a buying opportunity but it’s not for the faint-hearted.”