LONDON, July 7, 2026, 16:04 BST
- Aviva shares rose 0.30% to 677.80 pence, shown on the company’s investor page as of 15:40 UK time.
- Tesco and Aviva rolled out a year of free parent life insurance on July 6, offering it to families with kids under four.
- Aviva’s offer aims at a weak spot in protection sales, which slid 2% in the first quarter, even as wealth flows surged 49%.
- Aviva’s half-year results are set for Aug. 14, 2026, though the company says that’s still provisional.
Aviva plc LON:AV ticked up Tuesday after tying up a distribution deal with Tesco plc LON:TSCO, offering a new sign on Aviva’s push to grow protection sales. Protection still trailed the insurer’s wealth and general insurance business in the first-quarter update.
Aviva’s investor page had the shares trading at 677.80 pence, up 0.30%, at 15:40 UK time. Market cap on the same page was 20.3 billion pounds as of Monday’s close. Hargreaves Lansdown listed the bid-offer spread at 677.60p/678.00p with a prior close at 675.80p, volume of 3.22 million shares, a 5.80% dividend yield and P/E of 25.12.
The UK market ticked up a bit. Reuters said the FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 10,673.85 as of 10:57 GMT, with energy led by Shell pushing higher, but precious metals miners weighed.
| Selected London insurers | Latest price reading | Day move | Yield / P-E marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aviva LON:AV | 677.60p/678.00p | up 0.30% | 5.80% yield, P-E 25.12 |
| Legal & General LON:LGEN | 293.70p/293.90p | up 0.24% | 7.56% yield, P-E 35.33 |
| Prudential LON:PRU | 1,030.00p/1,031.00p | down 1.01% | 1.90% yield, P-E 9.02 |
| Admiral (LON:ADM) | 3,620.00p/3,622.00p | up 0.67% | 4.38% yield, P-E 14.54 |
Aviva isn’t the cheapest insurer by P/E, and it doesn’t match Legal & General on dividend yield either. The stock pitch leans on Direct Line deal synergies, plus wealth inflows and growth in retail channels to drive ongoing cash returns. Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and Google Finance data showed Aviva still trails peers on price, yield and earnings multiples.
Tesco’s July 6 offer gives each parent £15,000 of free life cover for every child under four for a year. Tesco Insurance and Money Services said 62% of parents with kids under four have life cover, meaning 38% don’t. The company also said 30% of UK parents say cost is a barrier, and 3.4 million households with young children shop at Tesco stores every year.
That’s key since Aviva’s protection sales slipped 2% to 88 million pounds in the first quarter. General insurance premiums climbed 19% to 3.4 billion pounds, wealth net flows jumped 49% to 3.3 billion pounds. The Tesco channel isn’t big compared to those figures, but it chips at a softer line where Aviva doesn’t control the retail pipeline.
| Aviva data point | Latest figure | Investor read |
|---|---|---|
| Tesco young-family reach | 3.4 mln households | Protection lead opportunity |
| Parents of under-fours with life cover | 62% | 38% left without cover |
| Q1 protection sales | £88 mln, down 2% | Protection still soft in Q1 |
| Q1 wealth net flows | £3.3 bln, up 49% | Wealth flows picking up |
| Q1 general insurance premiums | £3.4 bln, up 19% | Direct Line lift showing up |
Daren Boys, protection distribution director at Aviva, said the goal was to help families “get started with protection earlier.” Ban Mahsoub, partnerships director at Tesco Insurance and Money Services, said the product offers a “no-cost way to start thinking about protection.” The announcement did not disclose any financial terms or set a revenue target. Aviva
Aviva faces a bigger short-term hurdle with Direct Line. CEO Amanda Blanc said in May the Direct Line integration is “firmly on track.” Since the year started, Aviva says policies sold through price-comparison sites almost doubled. Aviva reported Q1 results with Direct Line folded into its UK and Ireland general insurance segment. Premiums there rose 26% to £2.5 billion. Aviva
Aviva’s balance sheet still gives it some room, but the spare cover isn’t as high as at year-end. The insurer reported a Solvency II shareholder cover ratio of 171% as of March 31, down from 180% at end-2025 after it accounted for the final dividend, buyback, and debt impacts. Aviva said it remains on track to hit over 350 million pounds in Direct Line capital synergies by year-end.
Aviva reported a 25% jump in full-year 2025 operating profit to 2.20 billion pounds, getting a 174 million pound lift from Direct Line. Aviva bumped its total dividend up 10% to 39.3p per share and launched a 350 million pound buyback. The company set new targets: 11% annual operating EPS growth from 2025 through 2028, IFRS return on equity above 20% by 2028, and over 7 billion pounds of cash remittances for 2026-2028.
Aviva is planning to report its half-year 2026 results on Aug. 14. The company flagged the date as provisional.
