Good morning, everybody, and a very warm welcome to Aviva's 2024 Annual General Meeting. I'm George Culmer, your Chair, and it's a great pleasure to see you here in the beautiful city of York. It really is a wonderful day, and you're very lucky, for those of you that live here. This is fantastic.
Look, Aviva has had a connection with this city since about 1783, and I'm delighted to celebrate those long-standing ties by holding our first-ever AGM here. Now, I find these meetings very valuable. They give us the opportunity to update you on how the company is performing, and they offer you a chance to ask us about the things that matter to you.
Now, alongside me this morning, our Group CEO, Amanda Blanc; our CFO, Charlotte Jones; our Company Secretary, Susan Adams; Pippa Lambert, Chair of our Rem Committee, and Patrick Flynn, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. Now, also in front of me are our non-exec directors. Over here, we've got Andrea Blance, Ian Clark, Shonaid Jemmett-Page, Mohit Joshi, Jim McConville, and Michael Mire.
I'd especially like to welcome Ian, who is new to the board this year, and who brings with him invaluable experience and expertise. I'd also like to welcome Susan, who joined us as Company Secretary in January. Now, who isn't here are Martin Strobel and Mike Craston, who both stepped down from the board in March and April of this year, and I would like to thank them both for their commitment and contribution to the company.
Now, in terms of the meeting itself, I can confirm that in line with our Articles of Association, we have the necessary quorum of shareholders joining virtually and in the room, and we can get underway. You'll notice the meeting sets out today's Resolutions, so I'm not going to read them to you now, but I will give an overview of the formal business of the meeting later on.
To give those joining virtually time to place their votes online, I now declare the voting open on all Resolutions for any shareholder, proxy, or corporate representative, and it will remain open for the duration of the meeting. For virtual attendees, the Resolutions and voting options should appear on your screen. Instructions on how to vote and ask questions can be found on the home page.
For those of you in the room and are entitled to vote, you have been given a white poll card at registration, and you will get to use these in a little while. Now, before I hand over to Amanda, as I wrote in the annual report, and as you all know, over the last 12 months, our customers and communities have been through some tough times and experienced some real uncertainty. We've seen storms and floods, the cost of living crisis, economic anxieties, and of course, the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Yet amidst these challenges and uncertainty, Aviva has continued to be there for our customers, living up to our purpose to be with them today for a better tomorrow. In contrast to the volatile external environment, our own performance has been dependably strong and consistent. We've delivered another 12 months of strong financial performance and good strategic progress.
We've also continued to deliver good returns for our shareholders, including a total dividend of GBP 0.334, subject to today's meeting. Now, none of this happens by accident. Our progress is the consequence of our strategy and the deliberate choices we have taken. It is also the direct result of the excellent work from Aviva's people, and I'd like to thank each and every one of them for their commitment and hard work over the last 12 months.
There's a great feeling within the business at the moment, a real belief in what we are doing and a confidence in its outcome. And while our performance has been strong, there is still so much more to come and do. And with that, I would like to hand over to Amanda.
Thank you, George, and good morning, everyone. It's lovely to see you all today, whether in person or online. And I'm delighted that you've all joined, as I can tell you why your company has had another very good year and how we plan to have many more in the future. We're delivering consistent quarter-on-quarter growth, we're delivering strong, reliable earnings and cash generation, and we're exceeding our targets.
Aviva has got real positive momentum now, and we're accelerating all the time. And as George said, this is thanks to my Aviva colleagues for the performance that they deliver day in, day out. They work tirelessly to look after our customers, often at moments of great need, so a very big thank you to the whole Aviva team. And thanks to their efforts, we've got a lot to be confident about.
Our results in March showed that sales were up, costs were down, and operating profit increased by 9%. We see growth right across the business. In general insurance, premiums were up 13% overall. In insurance, wealth, and retirement, we grew operating value added by 13%. In wealth, our workplace business continues to thrive with a record GBP 6.9 billion of net flows.
Our retirement business transacted on 56 bulk purchase annuity deals worth GBP 5.5 billion. We're also more efficient, with costs down 1% on the previous year, despite high inflation. Our track record over the last three years shows that the business model that we've built makes sense, giving us resilience and good opportunities for growth. It also demonstrates that our customer-focused strategy is the right one.
Executing that strategy means we've been able to deliver precisely what we said we would: strong momentum, reliable growth, and consistently high performance, which gives us the confidence to invest in our future success, too. We've already seen the benefits of our GBP 500 million investment in customer experience, growth, and efficiency, not least the extra 470,000 UK customers who joined us in the last year.
And we're well-positioned to accelerate organic growth through further investment and supplement that with bolt-on M&A. Acquisitions like the AIG protection book and Probitas, giving us, for the first time in 20 years, a fully integrated platform in the Lloyd's market. And it is this confidence that has led us to upgrade our group targets.
Over the last three years, Aviva has consistently delivered on its promises, which means we have already delivered on our cost reduction and own funds generation targets a year ahead of schedule, and we're on track to exceed our cash remittance target, too. So we've upgraded our ambitions for operating OFG and cash remittances, and are targeting GBP 2 billion in operating profit by 2026, reflecting a strong annual growth rate.
We're also committed to you, our shareholders, to deliver superior returns year in, year out. Last year, we raised our total dividend by 8% to 33.4 pence, and over the last three years, we've returned GBP 9 billion in capital and dividends. That's over 70% of our market cap and a very attractive yield. In March, we announced another GBP 300 million pound share buyback program, which is now well underway, and we've upgraded our dividend guidance to mid-single-digit growth in the cash cost. All in all, Aviva is in great shape, but let there be no doubt, I still believe that the best is yet to come.
The consistency of our performance might be enough to convince you to hold shares in Aviva, but I'd like to lay out very clearly why I think your decision to invest in us is the right one, and why I believe others should join you in the substantial upside that is still ahead of us. Aviva has lots of assets and reasons to invest, but there are five that I think are really compelling. First, we're the U.K.'s leading diversified insurer with a complementary portfolio, growing our capital-light businesses.
Nobody in this market can replicate that successful model. Second, we have a consistent strategy which is working, with investment identified for the future. Third, we have strong organic growth in all our markets, accelerated through selective bolt-on M&A. This is evidenced in the numbers that we're producing, and we are confident that we can sustain that performance.
Fourth, we now have a track record of delivery built over the last three and a half years. Fifth, we deliver superior returns for shareholders, with growing dividends and regular capital returns. With our strong momentum and continued investment in the business, I have real confidence in our ability to extend this track record, a track record that is based in part on our unique ability to look after our customers throughout their lives.
From their first workplace pension with auto enrollment, home insurance on their first property, right through to helping them prepare for and transition into retirement, Aviva is there for them. So it's been another excellent year. Thank you for your continued support for our business, and thank you for listening. I look forward to hearing from you very shortly.
I now propose that we move to the formal part of today's agenda. I hope that you have had full opportunity to consider the resolutions and cast your vote. As I say, that I will take the notice of meeting as read, however, I would like to draw your attention to the items of business. Firstly, in resolution 1, the directors are proposing to receive and consider the annual report for the financial year, ending 31 December 2023.
Resolution 2 is proposed to approve the directors' remuneration report, and resolution 3, to approve the directors' remuneration policy. In 4, we are asking shareholders to approve our climate-related financial disclosure set out in the company's annual report. In 5, the directors are recommending a final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2023, of 22.3p per share.
The dividend is payable on the twenty-third of May to the ordinary shareholders whose names are on the register of members at the close of business on the twelfth of April. Resolution 6 to 17 concern the election and re-election of all directors who retire in accordance with the company's articles.
With Mike Craston stepping down from the board on the sixteenth of April, resolution 11, as set out in the notice of meeting, has been withdrawn, and this resolution will not be put to a vote. In 18 and 19, we are seeking approval for the appointment and remuneration of Ernst & Young as our auditor. In 2021, following a competitive audit tender process, the board agreed to appoint EY for the financial year ending in 2024.
After 12 years in position, PwC will resign, and I would like to thank them for the years they have served as Aviva's auditor. Resolution 20 covers political donations. I know that shareholders have raised concerns in the past about the company seeking authority for this matter, and I would like to be clear, this is not the company's policy to make political donations or incur political expenditure, and it has no intention of doing so.
21 and 22 refer to the authority conferred on the directors to allot ordinary shares. 23 and 24 relate to the disapplication of preemption rights and seek authority in line with the guidelines to give the board maximum flexibility in order to raise capital. I should again emphasize that the directors have no present intention of exercising this authority.
Resolutions 25 to 27 relate to the authority for the company to purchase its own shares, and resolution 28 relates to the authorization for the company to call general meetings on no less than 14 clear days' notice. Finally, resolution 29 relates to the adoption of the company's new Articles of Association. And so, as a final reminder, if you have not placed your votes, please do so now.
And if you have already submitted your votes prior to the meeting by proxy and do not wish to change the way you have voted, you do not need to complete a poll card. If there is anyone present who is entitled to vote, but who does not have a white poll card, please raise your hand and a marshal will pass you one. Okay, I see no hands. I see no signals.
Please ensure you fill out your full name, address, or the full name and address of the shareholder you represent if you are attending as a proxy or corporate representative. Once completed and signed, the poll card should be placed in one of the black ballot boxes marked Poll Cards by the entrance to the room over there. Final results of the voting will be announced to the London Stock Exchange and posted on the company's website as soon as possible. So thank you all for coming. This is a great location. You are very lucky, and thank you very much. Thank you.