Generali's H1 profit falls by more than half despite P&C growth

Italian insurance group Generali's first half 2020 earnings dropped significantly despite seeing positive performance in the property/casualty (P&C) and asset management segments, and improving its combined ratio.

The insurer's net profit for the first half of the year fell 56.7 percent to €774 million from last year's €1.79 billion.

The net profit reflects €226 million of net impairments on investments related to the performance of the financial markets, €183 million for the arbitration settlement for the sale of BSI and the contribution of €1002 million to the Extraordinary International Fund for the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

The company reported first half gross written premiums of €36.5 billion, compared with €35.7 billion in the same period of 2019. Premiums in the life segment grew to €24.64 billion, up by 1.3 percent compared to the first half of 2019. Premiums in the P&C segment increased to €11.8 billion due to growth in the non-motor business line.

The combined ratio for the period was 89.5 percent, an improvement from 91.8 percent in H1 2019.

Generali Group CEO Philippe Donnet said: “The performance in the first half of the year confirms the validity of the Group’s strategy, the solidity of its business model and Generali’s technical excellence which enabled us to face these unprecedented circumstances.

"One of the Group’s key priorities was to support the communities impacted by Covid-19 through the Extraordinary International Fund and other initiatives. We also responded to this challenging moment by accelerating our innovation and digital transformation of the business and operating structure. Further, we continued to execute our Generali 2021 strategy in a disciplined and effective manner while also pursuing sustainable growth."