ageas (AGS) H2 2017 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Record Insurance net profit of €960m, up 33% YoY; Group net profit was €623m after a €337m General Account loss, including an additional Fortis settlement provision.

• Gross inflows rose 7% to €33.8bn; proposed regular gross dividend was €2.10/share, up 24% YoY.

Financial highlights

• Insurance net result increased from €721m to €960m; FY17 Group net result was €623m versus €27m in FY16.

• Gross inflows reached €33.8bn, up 7%; inflows at 100% included non-consolidated partnerships and were driven by Asian Life growth.

• Shareholders’ equity was €9.6bn, or €48.30/share; Insurance technical liabilities were €74.7bn.

• FY17 net realised investment gains were €204m, including €169m in Asia; all Belgium investment portfolio gains were realised in 9M.

Outlook and guidance

• Five of six Ambition targets were reached; the Unit-Linked operating margin was 27 bps versus a 40–45 bps target range.

• Solvency II ratio was 196% against a target above 175%; combined ratio was 95.2% against a 97% target.

• Proposed regular dividend of €2.10/share was within the 40–50% payout target; reported payout was 42%.

• Operational Free Capital Generation was €702m, calculated at 175% of SCR and excluding Non-European non-controlled participations.