Insuring company tackles floods dent

Britain's largest insurer Aviva reported an eight per cent drop in first-half operating profit as the cost of heavy floods in Britain weighed on its general insurance business and overshadowed growth in life.

But the group beat a key profitability target for general insurance and new chief executive officer Andrew Moss sought to assuage worries over his aims and ambitions for acquisitions, telling investors the main concern was organic growth.

"I've made a very firm statement that our top priority is to realise the full potential of our existing businesses," said Mr Moss, the former finance director who took over as CEO last month.

Bancassurance, however, will remain on the radar after six deals in the first-half added 30 million potential customers.

"You shouldn't think we are not going to look for opportunities to expand... What that isn't, of course, is larger deals, which we don't think are a priority at this point."

Worries over Aviva's appetite for acquisitions have dragged on the group since it made a failed takeover approach for UK rival Prudential last year and months later made a cash call to pay for US insurer AmerUs. Since then, however, Aviva has largely accelerated growth on its own, with smaller deals.