Broker snap: Nomura sees L&G and Aviva divi growth

With the results season for insurers about to kick off now might be a good time to invest in Legal and General (L&G) and Aviva, suggests Nomura Securities, with both companies likely to report strong cash and earnings to support their handsome dividend yields.Nomura is forecasting that L&G will bump up its interim dividend by 24% to 1.38p, reflecting its strong earnings, while Aviva is expected to improve its interim pay-out by 6% to 9.5p."We expect L&G to report continued strong cash and IFRS [international financial reporting standards] earnings following its extraordinary growth in 2009. Although we expect a slowdown in earnings in 2010, we think cash generation is still sufficiently strong to support a significant step-up of 24% in its interim dividend," Nomura analyst Nick Holmes said."We expect Aviva to report 13% IFRS earnings growth and to demonstrate that it can cover its increased dividend with cash generation; however, we expect pressure to remain on its NAV [net asset value] with its IFRS NAV likely to fall by 6% to 371p (MCEV [market consistent embedded value] NAV: 462p) owing to negative equity markets and further growth in its pension deficit," Holmes added.