Brussels-headquartered multinational insurer Ageas has reported an insurance net result of €1,070 million over 2021, up 11% from €960 million in the previous year.
The company attributed this result to the strong operating performance of its life operations, which generated a net result of €742 million, compared with €570 million previously.
Ageas was also satisfied with the performance of its non-life business, although here the result decreased from €391 million in 2020 to €328 million in 2021.
Overall group net profit for the year amounted to €845 million, including a €101 million negative impact related to the revaluation of RPN(i), a financial instrument held by Ageas used for payments to Fortis Bank.
Ageas’s non-life combined ratio stood at 95.4% reflecting a strong operating performance across all product lines and including the charges against the floods in Belgium and the UK, with total adverse weather costs amounting to €160 million.
In Motor, the claims frequency gradually returned to pre-Covid levels during the fourth quarter as restrictions on mobility were lifted across Europe.
Looking at reinsurance business specifically, inflows included €1.4 billion from the quota share agreements while an internal life reinsurance contract set up with Ageas France at the beginning of the year generated €29 million inflows. Including the traditional protection business, total inflows are in line with the previous year and amounted to €1.6 billion.
In 2021, the reinsurance result increased 10% thanks to strong fourth quarter results driven by reserving review related to the UK Motor contract and claims provision adjustments in Belgium.
The full year result benefitted from a slightly lower current year claims frequency in Motor recorded at the ceding entities, albeit to a much lesser extent than in the previous year, partially mitigating the impact of adverse weather mainly in Belgium and to a lesser extent in the UK.
“I’m very pleased and proud that in a year marked by a challenging economic environment, increasing inflation and extreme weather events, all our businesses delivered a strong commercial and operating performance resulting in double digit growth in inflows at EUR 40 billion and an excellent net insurance result above EUR 1 billion,” said Ageas CEO Hans De Cuyper.
“The Group’s performance was propelled by a strong fourth quarter, especially in Asia, while our focus on less capital intensive Unit-Linked products contributed to the strong increase in the Life result,” he continued.
“With these outstanding results, we closed Connect21, one of Ageas’s most challenging strategic cycles ever. Regardless of the pressure on business, the uncertain times in people’s lives and society in rapid transformation, we managed to not only deliver on our targets but also on the promises towards all our stakeholders.”
