Aviva raises its dividend as JD.com and Saudi petrochemicals repair profits
Aviva raised its dividend on stronger operating profit; JD.com returned to operating profit despite lower revenue, Saudi petrochemical losses halved, and Coach carried Tapestry’s growth.
Economics & Markets··Evening
Aviva’s operating profit and interim dividend
Aviva said first-half operating profit rose 24 per cent to 1.3 billion pounds and the interim dividend was raised 7 per cent to 14.0 pence a share. Operating earnings per share were up 10 per cent to 31.8 pence and return on equity reached 20.3 per cent. General insurance premiums grew to 8,093 million pounds from 6,290 million pounds, with the undiscounted combined operating ratio improving to 93.3 per cent from 94.6 per cent. Premiums in UK and Ireland general insurance rose 42 per cent to 5,910 million pounds as personal lines almost doubled after the Direct Line acquisition, while Canada added 3 per cent to 2,183 million pounds. Wealth net flows were up 32 per cent to 7.6 billion pounds and assets under management 25 per cent to 261 billion pounds; cash remittances rose 47 per cent to 1,498 million pounds. The dividend increase sits with operating profit and cash remittances after the Direct Line combination.[2]
JD.com turns profitable as Saudi petrochemical losses halve
JD.com reported through GlobeNewswire that second-quarter net revenues fell 2.9 per cent to 346.4 billion yuan and that it earned 4.5 billion yuan from operations against a loss a year earlier. Non-GAAP income from operations was 5.5 billion yuan against 0.9 billion yuan a year earlier. Net income attributable to shareholders was 7.1 billion yuan on a GAAP basis and 8.9 billion yuan on a non-GAAP basis. JD Retail earned 13.5 billion yuan from operations at a 4.6 per cent margin, and the loss in the new businesses that house food delivery narrowed. Free cash flow was 31.8 billion yuan. Chief executive Sandy Xu said the quarter marked a clear inflection in the profit trajectory. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, first-half net losses at nine petrochemical companies listed on the Saudi Exchange fell by more than half to 1.7 billion riyals, or 452.8 million dollars, from about 3.4 billion riyals a year earlier. Four of the nine were profitable and five lost money; SABIC Agri-Nutrients earned about 1.6 billion riyals, down 21.4 per cent, and Saudi Kayan carried the largest loss at 1.29 billion riyals. Second-quarter losses for the nine fell 42.17 per cent to 2.07 billion riyals. Mohamed Hamdy Omar of G. World told Asharq Al-Awsat that SABIC’s narrower loss largely reflects provisions and impairment charges that did not recur, rather than a matching recovery in operations.[3], [1]
Coach carries Tapestry’s growth
Tapestry, Inc. reported that full-year fiscal 2026 net sales rose 14 per cent to 8.004 billion dollars, with Coach up 24 per cent and Kate Spade down 10 per cent. Fourth-quarter net sales were 1.876 billion dollars, up 9 per cent, with non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of 1.32 dollars. For the full year, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were 7.05 dollars and the non-GAAP gross margin was 76.6 per cent. For fiscal 2027 the company guided to revenue between 8.4 billion dollars and 8.5 billion dollars and diluted earnings per share between 7.80 dollars and 7.90 dollars. Read together: Aviva lifts the dividend on premiums and operating profit; JD.com turns operating income positive as revenue slips; the Saudi petrochemical group halves losses while part of the improvement is tied to non-recurring provisions; Tapestry raises group sales while leaning growth on Coach as Kate Spade contracts. The shared theme is profit-line repair or dividend capacity without a sales boom.[4], [2], [3], [1]
