Profits for Aviva's general insurance business rose to £959m for 2002 from £924m in 2001. And the business beat combined operating ratio targets of 102%.
The profit included £611m from Norwich Union's general insurance UK business.
Aviva executive director Patrick Snowball was delighted with the results, which were announced as Aviva, posted £1.8bn profit for 2002.
Snowball said that the results vindicated the merger strategy kick-started by former group chief executive Bob Scott.
He added that the company is now a "beacon of stability" in a market that is suffering problems with capacity and solvency. Norwich Union remains AA rated, whereas Fitch downgraded R&SA to BBB+ yesterday and Axa Insurance was downgraded to A+ earlier this month.
One area Snowball has targeted for attention to improve results next year is distribution in the personal motor sector, where the combined ratio of 103% is just above NU's target of 102%. Snowball hinted that the future Norwich Union's personal motor with smaller brokers is under review.
"Direct Line's results are not a fairytale," he said.
Snowball added that distribution through retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury's is resulting in price differentials of 30%. "That's a lot more than commission," he added.
On commercial lines, Snowball said that NU has capacity and solvency. He said: "We are aware that the Global and London markets overcooked rate rises and capacity has flooded back. We will be careful that doesn't happen in our markets."
