UK-based composite Aviva has reported a net loss after tax of £681m ($1.065bn), down from a gain of £465m in the same period last year, after deciding to write down £876m in goodwill and intangibles relating to Aviva's US business. The interim operating profit was down by 10% to £935m, of which 8pp was attributed to restructuring costs. Stripping these out there was a 2% year on year fall to £1.12bn. That decline was attributed to the sale of the RAC business (impact of £49m), foreign exchange movements (£33m) and UK weather events (£62m worse than H1 2011). Notwithstanding the worse weather, Aviva's non-life and health sector delivered an operating gain of £461m for the half, up 1% year on year. The combined ratio for the half improved to 95.5% from 96.3%. In UK non-life excluding RAC, operating profit increased by 17%, despite £40m of weather-related claims costs in June. Aviva attributed the improvement to "our continued focus on pricing and cost management and the benefits of the action we took last year to exit poorly performing business lines, particularly in commercial motor". Net premiums dropped by 6% year on year to £2.09bn. Personal motor premiums were up by 13% "as a result of new initiatives such as Quotemehappy and MultiCar insurance", Aviva said. In Ireland, operating profit fell from £24m to £3m because of adverse weather claims, increased costs and difficult economic conditions. In Canada operating profit increased by 47% to £173m, with the combined ratio improved by 6pp to 90%.Net written premiums increased 5% to £1.08bn reflecting rate increases, higher retention and new business wins. In France general insurance and health operating profit decreased 14% to £43m, mainly as a result of adverse weather in February 2012. The combined operating ratio rose slightly to 92.4%. Net written premiums were flat at £581m. Aviva said that in some of its smaller general insurance markets "operating performance was weak" and said that "we remain focused on improving their financial performance". Chairman John McFarlane, who has an executive role until a permanent successor to ex-CEO Andrew Moss is found, said that "while this has been a challenging first half, we are taking the necessary actions to improve our position going forward. This environment is likely to continue and therefore we expect second half performance trends to be broadly similar to the first six months, but with higher restructuring costs as we implement our strategic plan". The interim dividend was maintained at 10p per share. In a gently rising market Aviva's shares were marked down 1.6% in mid-morning trade to 313p.