At a meeting chaired by Gabriele Galateri di Genola, the Assicurazioni Generali Board of Directors approved the consolidated financial statements and the Parent Company’s draft financial statements for the year 2021.
The Group’s operating result was, for the third consecutive year, its best ever performance, reaching € 5,852 million (€ 5,208 million FY2020) thanks to positive growth across all segments.
The Life and P&C segments confirmed excellent technical profitability with the New Business Margin at 4.52% (+0.57 p.p.) and the Combined Ratio was the best and least volatile among peers at 90.8% (+1.7 p.p.).
The operating result of the Asset Management segment rose to € 672 million (€ 546 million FY2020). This growth was mainly boosted by operating revenues, in particular thanks to the overall increase of assets under management and the continued expansion of the real assets strategy.
The Group’s non-operating result was € -1,306 million (€ -1,848 million FY2020). Impairments on available for sale investments reduced – mainly in the equity component – which amounted to € -251 million (€ -530 million FY2020). Net realised gains reached € 368 million (€ 32 million FY2020), driven by real estate transactions. The non-operating result was also affected by the overall positive contribution deriving from the acquisition of control of the Cattolica Group for € 198 million and the extraordinary costs of € 212 million3 related to its integration. It should be noted that in 2020, in particular, non-operational expenses included the establishment of the Extraordinary International Fund launched by the Group to deal with the Covid-19 emergency in support of national healthcare systems and the economic recovery, further local initiatives in the main countries of operation and, in France, an extraordinary obligatory contribution to the national healthcare system requested of the insurance sector.
Generali Group CEO Philippe Donnet commented: “The excellent results we present today mark the successful conclusion of the ‘Generali 2021’ strategic plan, demonstrating once again that we deliver on our promises. Over the past two strategic cycles, we have reinforced our leadership in Europe and have become the Lifetime Partner to 67 million customers worldwide thanks to the talent and skills of our employees and agents. Generali is now best-in-class in terms of its capital position, profitability and growth, it has strengthened its presence in high potential markets and grown its asset management business. We are now effectively implementing our new strategy ‘Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth,’ focused on sustainable growth, an enhanced earnings profile and the creation of value for all stakeholders. A rigorous and disciplined capital deployment approach, sustainability fully embedded into the business and increased investment in technology and digital transformation will be key drivers of our new plan’s success. Finally, it is impossible not to mention the crisis in Ukraine. As with the Covid-19 pandemic, Generali and its employees have taken immediate action to help refugees. Our Group has historic ties with Central and Eastern Europe and will continue to support the communities impacted by the war.”
The net result grew significantly to reach € 2,847 million (€ 1,744 million FY2020) thanks in particular to the positive improvement in operating and non-operating results. The adjusted net result – excluding € 52 million relating to the acquisition of control of the Cattolica Group and extraordinary costs related to its integration – increased to € 2,795 million (+45.1%, € 1,926 million FY2020, which neutralised € 183 million from the settlement agreement for the sale of BSI)4.
Gross written premiums of the Group amounted to € 75,825 million (+6.4%) with a positive contribution from both the Life (+6.0%)5 and P&C (+7.0%) segments. Life net inflows grew by 4.4% to reach € 12.7 billion, entirely focused on the unit-linked and protection lines. Life Technical Reserves increased to € 424 billion (+10.3%). The Group had Total Assets Under Management equal to € 710 billion (+8.4%)6.
The Group shareholders’ equity was € 29,308 million (-2.4%). The change is mainly due to the result of the period attributable to the Group, which more than offset the distribution of the dividend and the change in other profits or losses recognised to shareholders’ equity (change in AFS reserves).
The RoE stood at 12.1% (+4.4 p.p.).
The Group confirmed an excellent capital position, with the Solvency Ratio at 227%. The increase compared to FY2020 (224%) was driven by the very positive contribution from normalised capital generation and the positive development in financial markets which more than offset the negative impact deriving from regulatory changes, M&A transactions and dividend provision for the period.
The normalised capital generation was confirmed at a solid level at € 3.8 billion (€ 4.0 billion FY2020).