Aviva PLC reported on Thursday a bumper dividend and strong growth in profits despite significant market volatility and kicked off a £300mln share buyback.  The company posted a 35% increase in operating profit to £2.21bn in the 12 months to 31 December 2022 from £1.63bn a year before, while general insurance gross written premiums (GWR) rose 8% to £9.75bn from £8.81bn with a combined operating ratio (COR) of 94.6% (2021: 92.9%).

DS Smith PLC said Thursday that positive trends experienced in the first half of the year have continued into the second, and performance has been in line with the board's expectations.  The packaging company said that its robust and flexible supply chain as well as cost management initiatives and resilient pricing have offset lower volumes, driving further margin progression, strong profit growth and improvement in return on capital. It hasn't provided any figures for these metrics.  For the first half year ended Oct. 31, DS Smith's pretax profit was 80% higher at 315 million pounds ($373.1 million) on revenue 28% higher at GBP4.30 billion. On a constant currency basis pretax profit was up 79% and revenue was up 26%.

Entain on Thursday forecast some regulatory headwinds this year and reported a 13% rise in its annual profit, aided by strong betting during the FIFA World Cup and the National Football League.  Gambling companies have benefited from betting shops reopening in the past year, but declining online revenue, stiffer regulation for online gambling in Britain and a cost-of-living crisis pose challenges for the industry.

Harbour Energy announced a new share buyback plan worth $200 million on Thursday after its 2022 free cash flow tripled to $2.1 billion, supported by higher oil prices and despite a rise in tax bills.  The British North Sea's biggest oil and gas producer also reiterated its expectations for production and capital expenditure in 2023.

M&G claimed saw assets under management fall £28bn to £342bn during 2023.  M&G’s adjusted operating profit before tax during the 12 months was £529 million compared to 2021’s £721m as it took a hit losses in its annuity portfolio and foreign exchange costs on its US dollar debt.  M&G said it returned nearly £1bn to shareholders through dividends and share buy-backs and it was on track to achieve £2.5bn operating capital generation target by 2024

WANdisco  this morning said “sophisticated and potentially fraudulent” irregularities have been discovered in its financial position and has requested its shares are suspended from trading on AIM.