Repositioning helps Delta Lloyd grow business in first 9 months

Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd increased its gross written premiums in the first nine months of 2016 as it stressed it has also exited unprofitable and unattractive business segments as part of a wider ongoing restructuring.

The gross written premiums for Delta Lloyd's general insurance segment reached €1.1 billion in the first nine months, an increase of 6 percent year-on-year.

Delta Lloyd's combined ratio for the nine-month period was 103.1 percent, up 6.6 percentage points YOY mainly because of exceptional weather in June, the company said.

In its nine month results, the company said it had made good progress on its management priorities of capital, performance and customer. This included, in the first half of 2016, executing a rights issue, the sale of its shareholding in Van Lanschot and ALM actions.

The company said that during the third quarter, it continued to deliver on management actions, including the announced merger of its Belgian and Dutch life activities.

It said its SF solvency ratio decreased to 156 percent, equivalent to 165 percent pro forma for announced actions, from 173 percent at end June, reflecting market headwinds.

“In particular the effect of a lower volatility adjustment and normalising markets after the 'safe haven' credit spread movements, arising following the Brexit referendum, faded. Markets remain volatile and there are ongoing regulatory developments, therefore we need to continue to improve the quality of our capital. In this respect, the implementation of the Partial Internal Model (PIM), which is on track for introduction in 2018, is critical,” the company said.

Hans van der Noordaa, chairman of the executive board for Delta Lloyd, said: "We are taking action on our management priorities of capital, performance and customer. We have a clear capital management framework and our capital position is well placed in our target range, despite market headwinds.

“Our business is strong and we are taking decisive action to improve our performance. We expect to see the first results of these actions in 2017. We need to improve further our cost efficiency and we are lowering our operational expenses target for 2018 by €30 million to €530 million.”