14 May 2015 Insurance

Generali hails turnaround with strong Q1 results

Italian insurer Generali posted strong growth and improved profits in the first quarter, which it attributed to its turnaround plans for the business being effective a year ahead of plan.

The company made a net profit of €682 million in the quarter, an increase of 3.3 percent compared with the €660 million it made a year earlier. It noted that if the one-off effect of discontinued operations were taken into account, net profit would have increased by 10 percent.

Its total premiums written in the period also increased to €20.1 billion, an increase of 8.3 percent on the year before. This growth was largely driven by the life business, which enjoyed a 12.7 percent increase in premiums with strong growth in Italy, Germany, France and central and Eastern Europe.

While the company said its life book was also very profitable, its property/casualty unit, which posted flat premium levels, was hit by the impact of catastrophe events in Italy and centre of Europe for approximately €70 million. This meant this unit posted an operating result of €505 million, a decrease of 4.6 percent on the year before. The combined ratio of this unit was 93.3 percent a small increase on the year before.

“We close the first quarter of the year with particularly satisfying results in all our business segments both in terms of premium income as well as profitability,” said Alberto Minali, the group chief financial officer of Generali.

“These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the initiatives we have adopted as part of the turnaround, which we have completed one year ahead of plan. We have improved the quality of our offering with products generating a high customer value, and have restructured the Group’s portfolio, where needed, helping the business focus on Generali core activities."

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