Gross deposits earned by Aegon for the period amounted to €52bn, with the biggest contribution came from asset management division
Aegon headquarters in the Hague, the Netherlands. (Credit: Wikipedia.org/TeunSpaans.)
Dutch insurance giant Aegon announced that it has earned a net income of €1.27bn for the first quarter of 2020.
The company reported a return on equity at 7.0% for this year’s first quarter.
Aegon stated that it is unlikely to reach an annual 10% return on equity target, given the prevailing circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gross deposits earned by Aegon for the period amounted to €52bn, with the biggest contribution came from asset management division that earned €32.7bn for the quarter.
The second biggest contributor (region-wise) was the Americas, earning €12.4bn, mainly from Retirement Plans, Mutual Funds and Variable Annuities.
It was followed by the Netherlands with €3.7bn, reflecting bank deposits at Knab and pension deposits at Aegon Cappital.
The earnings in UK worth €2.9bn were driven by retail and workplace inflows on the platform.
The operating expenses of Aegon for the first quarter were €991m and included €49m in restructuring expenses and IFRS 9 / 17 project costs of €30m.
The expenses in the UK were partly offset by cost synergies and the benefit from lower pension costs in the Netherlands.
Aegon’s underlying earnings before tax was €366m in quarter
Aegon’s underlying earnings before tax was €366m in the March quarter, reflecting adverse mortality experience and impact from lower interest rates in the Americas.
The underlying earnings in the Netherlands, the UK and internationally and Asset Management were also affected by limited unfavourable impact from the Covid-19 pandemic during the period, the company said.
Aegon chief finance officer Matt Rider said: “Given the extraordinary circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we provide a condensed update of our results today. In the first quarter of 2020, underlying earnings in Europe, Asia and Asset Management held up well.
“However, earnings in the United States were negatively affected by the drop in interest rates as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, and unfavorable mortality experience, which was largely unrelated to COVID-19.
“This resulted in underlying earnings before tax of 366 million euros for the Group. Net income of 1.3 billion euros benefited from effective hedge programs and the favorable impact of credit spread movements on the valuation of our liabilities.”