The FTSE 100 index closed up 1.36 per cent or 99.36 points to 7,429.56 this afternoon.
British insurer Aviva will return £4.75billion to shareholders, despite reporting a 10 per cent fall in operating profit for 2021, it announced.
Separately, the insurer announced the £385million acquisition of Birmingham-based financial advice firm Succession Wealth, which Aviva said ‘significantly enhances’ its presence in the UK wealth market.
Europe’s largest meal delivery company Just Eat Takeaway.com saw smaller full-year losses than expected for 2021 at €350million for 2021, as revenues rose 34 per cent to €5.3billion.
Analysts had forecast a loss of €366million euros for 2021, compared with a profit of €363million euros in the previous year.
British house prices jumped by 1.7 per cent, marking the biggest month-on-month rise for six months, according to mortgage lender Nationwide.
House prices stood 12.6 per cent higher than their level a year ago, the strongest reading since June.
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Aviva has raised £7.5billion from selling eight businesses across the globe since the appointment of Amanda Blanc as chief executive in July 2020
