For HY 20, Ageas reported a net profit of €791m, which is an increase of 31% to the figure of €606m reported in HY 19
Ageas reported 31% increase in HY 20 net profit compared to HY 19. (Credit: mohamed Hassan from Pixabay)
Ageas has reported a 4% drop in its net profit for the second quarter of 2020 (Q2 2020) at €339.4m compared to €354.6m it made in the same quarter of 2019.
The Belgian insurance group said that the net result in Q2 2020 was driven by its non-life business which more than compensated for the lesser performance from the life unit.
In the previous quarter, that is Q1 2020, Ageas reported a net profit of €451.6m. For the first six months of 2020 (HY 20), the Belgian insurer has a net profit of €791m, which is an increase of 31% to the figure of €606m reported in HY 19, owing to a gain of €332m in the form of fresh transactions.
The earnings per share of the insurer in HY20 moved up by 34% from €3.13 in HY 19 to €4.19.
In its life insurance business, the Belgian group saw a 16% decline in its net profit at €220.6m in Q2 2020 compared to €262.1m in the same quarter in the previous year.
For HY 20, the life insurance unit’s net result was down by 36% at €309.7m compared to €485.1m reported in HY 19. The net result was affected by the impact caused by Covid-19 on the investment result, said the insurer.
In the non-life business, Ageas’ net profit surged by 94% to €157.3m in Q2 2020 compared to €80.9m made in Q1 2019.
For HY 20, the net profit made by the non-life unit came to €181.2m, which marks an increase of 56% compared to €115.8m in HY 19. The insurer said that the non-life unit witnessed a robust performance across all segments and was backed by a positive impact from the Covid-19 lockdown measures, which made up for the impact of the unfavourable weather in February.
Ageas CEO comments on the Q2 2020 and HY 20 results
Ageas CEO Bart De Smet said: “The very good results of the second quarter, at the worst moment of the economic and social crisis caused by the pandemic, show the resilience of our economic model that benefits from geographical and product diversification and prudent management of our balance sheet.
“We have also maintained a high and stable solvency ratio and more than satisfying liquidity. Without material negative impact from the financial markets in the coming months, we feel confident we will be able to achieve a result close to our initial guidance, excluding the positive one off impact from the FRESH operation.”