Generali posts record operating profit
(Reuters) — Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. raised its dividend on Thursday after Italy’s biggest insurer posted a record annual operating profit boosted by life and asset management businesses and cost cuts.
Its operating profit rose 2.3% to €4.89 billion ($6 billion), in line with a company-provided analyst consensus of €4.86 billion.
“We are perfectly positioned to reach all of our objectives that we had set for 2018,” CEO Philippe Donnet said.
Strong performance of life and asset management businesses offset a 4.9% fall in nonlife operations, impacted by a €416 million hit from natural catastrophe claims.
“Overall results are positive with a nice beat at the operating profit level,” a Milan-based trader said.
Last year insurers paid record claims of about $135 billion after a spate of hurricanes, earthquakes and fires.
Asked about consolidation in the insurance sector, Mr. Donnet said Generali would consider M&A activity “if it allows us to accelerate our strategy.”
This month, French rival Axa S.A. agreed to buy insurer XL Group Ltd. for around $15 billion.
Generali is looking to sell businesses in some 13 countries. It wants to use proceeds to help fund an expansion of asset management operations and beef up its fee-based business.
Europe’s third-biggest insurer, which reported a 1.4% rise in net profit, said it would pay a dividend of €0.85 per share on its 2017 results, up from €0.80 the previous year.
It also said its economic solvency ratio — a sign of an insurer’s capital strength — had risen to 230% from 194% a year earlier.
Read Next
-
Generali reorganizes regional structure to include Austria in Central and Eastern Europe
Italy-based insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA's Austrian unit Generali Holding Vienna AG will become a part of the insurer's structure in the Central and Eastern Europe region, starting Jan. 1, 2018, Xprimm.com reported. Generali's Austrian unit is currently a part of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Generali's Central and Eastern Europe regional office will now be responsible for eleven countries in the new regional structure.
Related Stories
-
Generali reorganizes regional structure to include Austria in Central and Eastern Europe
-
Generali completes sale of Dutch operations to ASR Nederland
-
Generali to cut coal investments in new climate change strategy
