By Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster
(Reuters) – Insurer Ageas reported a full-year net operating profit on Thursday that landed at the top end of its forecast, boosted by higher inflows that fuelled strong performance in its non-life and life insurance segments.
Ageas’ net operating profit for the period was 1.24 billion euros ($1.30 billion), above a company-compiled consensus of analysts’ average expectations of 1.23 billion euros.
The firm also said it expects profits to amount to 1.3 billion euros this year, excluding a potential impact from adverse weather and volatile financial markets.
JPM analysts drew attention to the “better quality” of results and strong beat on solvency performance. “Quality of net operating result is very strong due to lower than expected net capital gains,” they said in a note.
Ageas’ solvency II ratio, a measure of insurers’ capital strength under the EU risk-measurement rules, amounted to 218% versus 210% forecast by analysts.
A solvency ratio above 100% indicates an insurer has sufficient capital.
The shares edged up slightly in early trading, reaching a nearly four-year high. They had gained more than 13% since the beginning of the year.
“We grew inflows considerably, increased the profitability of our business… This strong performance enables us to announce a total gross cash dividend of 3.50 euros for 2024,” said CEO Hans De Cuyper.
Its European rivals NN Group and ASR Nederland also reported strong results for the last year, floating on recovery and new income sources.
Ageas’ total inflows rose by 10% to 18.49 billion euros, including 8.60 billion euros from its biggest business in Asia.
Its non-life segment led the growth, driven by higher contributions from customer and premium growth as well as underwriting profitability in the UK, where the group completed the acquisition of Saga’s Insurance Underwriting business for 65 million pounds ($82.32 million) in December.
The firm’s life insurance segment saw 9% growth mainly helped by solid performance in Asia and recovery in Europe, excluding France.
($1 = 0.9555 euros)
($1 = 0.7896 pounds)
(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster in Gdansk; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
