(Alliance News) - Assicurazioni Generali Spa reported Monday that it achieved a "record" normalized net profit of EUR3.58 billion in 2023, up 14 percent from EUR3.13 billion in 2022.

This was mainly due to improved operating income-which benefits from diversified sources of profit, a EUR193 million after-tax nonrecurring gain related to the sale of a London property complex, and the negative impact of two factors: restructuring charges in Italy of about EUR165 million after tax and EUR71 million in write-downs on Russian fixed income instruments recorded in 2022.

Net income grows to EUR3.75 billion from EUR2.24 billion in 2022 and also benefits from the EUR255 million positive impact related to the sale of Generali Deutschland Pensionskasse.

The board of directors also proposed a dividend per share at EUR1.28, up 10 percent from EUR1.16 in 2022, "confirming the group's focus on shareholder remuneration and the achievement of the 2022-2024 cumulative dividend target," the company's note says.

Total gross premiums amounted to EUR82.47 billion, up 5.6 percent from EUR79.02 billion in 2022.

Consolidated operating income is EUR6.89 billion from EUR6.37 billion in 2022, up 7.9 percent thanks to positive contributions from all segments, driven mainly by non-life.

Group shareholders' equity is up to EUR29.97billion thanks to the net result for the period, partially offset by the recognition of the dividend, from EUR26.65 billion as of Dec. 331, 2022.

Total Assets Under Management grew by 6.6 percent to EUR655.8 billion from EUR615.17 billion in 2022 and mainly reflected the positive market effect.

The group confirms a strong capital position with the Solvency Ratio at 220 percent versus 221 percent in 2022, thanks to strong normalized capital generation.

As for the future, "the group confirms its commitment to pursue sustainable growth, improve the earnings profile, and drive innovation so as to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent to 8 percent in earnings per share in the period 2021-2024, generate net available cash flows at the parent company level in excess of EUR8.5 billion over the period 2022-2024, and distribute cumulative dividends to shareholders over the period 2022- 2024 in the range of EUR5.2 billion to EUR5.6 billion, with ratchet policy on dividend per share," the statement said.

The group expects to reach the latter target by May 2024: specifically, if the shareholders' meeting on April 24, 2024 approves the proposal to pay dividends in 2024 of EUR2.0 billion, cumulative dividends over the period 2022-2024 will be EUR5.5 billion.

Generali Group CEO Philippe Donnet said, "Generali's strong performance in 2023, supported by record operating income and profit with positive contributions from all segments, demonstrates the effective execution of our 'Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth' strategy. Thanks to our strong cash and capital position, we are accelerating the growth of dividends distributed to our shareholders. As a profitable and diversified insurance and asset management player, the group is now in the best shape ever. Generali's future success will also benefit from the contribution of the acquisitions of Conning and Liberty Seguros."

Assicurazioni Generali's stock closed Monday in the green by 0.4 percent at EUR22.30 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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