Ageas attributed the increase in the Q1 2020 net profit on the result of the tender on the FRESH securities at the end of last year
Ageas makes €451.6m net profit in Q1 2020. (Credit: mohamed Hassan from Pixabay)
Ageas has reported an 80% surge in its net profit for the first quarter of 2020 at €451.6m compared to €251.4m it made in the same quarter of 2019.
The Belgian insurance group attributed the increase in net profit on the result of the tender on the FRESH securities at the end of last year.
Ageas’ net profit in fourth quarter 2019 was €101.2m.
The earnings per share of the insurer moved up by 86% from €1.3 in Q1 2019 to €2.41 in Q1 2020.
The Belgian group had a net profit of €113m in the reported quarter compared to €258m in the year before quarter. The insurer said that the solid underlying operational performance was offset partly by impairments on the equity portfolio in Belgium and Asia.
Ageas’ life insurance business saw a 60% drop in its net profit at €89.1m compared to €223m in Q1 2019. The company said that the lower net result was due to the Covid-19 related turmoil on the financial markets in Belgium and Asia.
On the other hand, the net profit in the non-life insurance business was down by 32% from €34.9m in Q1 2019 to €23.9m because of the storms in February in Belgium and the UK in spite of the strong performance in most business lines across all segments.
Ageas CEO Bart De Smet said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has been impacting society in ways that we have never seen before. In these turbulent times and under sometimes difficult circumstances our employees across the business made sure that our customers could continue to benefit from the service levels they expect from us.
“Thanks to our specific and diversified business portfolio focused on insurance for individuals and smaller businesses, the direct impact on our commercial activities and claims remained limited.”
Recently, Ageas entered into a partnership with Tractable, an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions developer, for providing end-to-end car damage assessments and estimates in the UK.