HONG KONG, Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ageas 2013 Results (Note 1) -- Asia Financial Highlights
Ageas reports solid Insurance results and proposes a 17% dividend increase
- Group net profit of its insurance operations was EUR 654 million, up 5%; fourth quarter at EUR 157 million
- Group inflows (at 100%) at EUR 23.2 billion, up 9%, largely driven by growth in Asia (+25%) and Continental Europe (+21%)
- Group net profit of EUR 570 million, down 23%; fourth quarter at EUR 57 million
- Insurance solvency ratio at 207%; Group solvency ratio at 214%. General Account net cash position of EUR1.9billion (vs. EUR 1.2 billion)
Strong new business growth, accompanied by good underlying profit in Asia
- Ageas Asia's net profit at EUR 142 million vs. EUR 128 million (+11%) of which EUR 38 million originated from its Hong Kong operations
- Asia's inflows at EUR 9.8 billion vs. EUR 7.9 billion (+25%)
- Mainland China's inflows increased 40% to EUR 6.4 billion, with new business premiums up 69% to EUR 3.2 billion. The bank channel and the agency channel both contributed to this growth.
- Thailand's inflows were up 20% to EUR 1.7 billion. Life new business premiums were up 25% to EUR 676 million. Non-Life inflows saw strong growth (+19% to EUR 214 million) in almost all lines of business. Growth was especially strong in the Motor business.
- Malaysia's life inflows amounted to EUR 594 million. Non-Life premiums were EUR 552 million.
- Hong Kong's inflows increased 8% to EUR 485 million. New business premiums increased by 15%, despite a general market slowdown following new regulations related to sales procedures of investment linked products.
- India's inflows were EUR 108 million, with new business premiums up 20% in the bank channel
- Strong solvency in Asia (including non-consolidated operations) at 221%
Announcing the 2013 full year results, Gary Crist, Chief Executive Officer of Ageas Asia commented:
"Asia maintained the good momentum from the third quarter into the fourth quarter. Life inflows were up 27% with higher sales across most entities and all main distribution channels. Life new business premiums grew in both the bank and agency channels as they benefited from very successful sales campaigns and channel development activities, including a strong increase in the number of agents in the region. Renewal premiums were again up significantly as a result of last year's strong sales and continued good persistency across all entities. The Non-Life business saw strong growth in the Motor business."
Please visit http://www.ageas.com for full details of the press release.
Note:
- All Full Year 2013 data are compared to the Full Year 2012 figures unless otherwise stated.
