Regulated information - Ageas reports first quarter 2015 Results

Brussels, 8 May 2015 - 7:30 (CET)

Insurance net profit up 37% at EUR 198 million
Combined Ratio at 96.5%
Gross inflows (at 100%) up 28 % and reached EUR 10 billion mark

Profit      

• Insurance net profit up 37 % to EUR 198 million, with all segments contributing
• Group net profit at EUR 241 million, positively impacted by General Account net profit of EUR 44 million mainly due to the reduced RPN(I) liability

Inflows   

• Group inflows (at 100%) at EUR 10.0 billion up 28% led by Asia and Continental Europe
• Group inflows (Ageas part) grew 19% to reach EUR 4.2 billion
• Life inflows up 34% to EUR 8.3 billion and Non-Life up 5% to EUR 1.7 billion (both at 100%)

Operating Performance

• Combined ratio at 96.5 % versus 102.6%
• Operating Margin Guaranteed at 91 bps versus 98 bps
• Life Technical Liabilities of consolidated entities up 3% to €77.1 billion compared to the end of 2014

Balance Sheet       

• Shareholders' equity up to EUR 12.0 billion or EUR 55.04 per share
• Insurance solvency ratio at 222% and Group solvency at 226%
• General Account net cash position fairly stable compared to the end of 2014 at EUR 1.6 billion

               
Belgium 
Net profit up 9% with solid Life margins and a strong combined ratio backed by an improved prior year claims ratio

UK          
Improved operating performance in Household and Other lines partly offset by Motor

Continental Europe               
Increased net profit driven by both Life and Non-Life; marked sales increase in Life across all countries

Asia       
New business and high persistency drove strong growth in both inflows and profit

Ageas CEO Bart De Smet said: "2015 has started well, illustrated by continued growth in inflows and a higher net result despite a lower level of realized capital gains compared to the same quarter last year. While all segments contributed to these encouraging figures, Asia was once again a significant contributor to commercial growth. And with a significant presence in non-euro countries, we have also benefitted from favourable exchange rates in the first quarter.

Our combined ratio is ahead of our 97% target helped to a great extent by the release of prior year reserves. We will continue to look for ways to improve our operational performance as we move forward.

And finally as we look at the overall environment, it is fair to say that prolonged low interest rates continue to represent a challenge particularly for our European Life activities. Because of our very careful asset/liability management, this will not affect fundamentally the profitability of our existing book. It could however have an impact on growth prospects in Life in Belgium, where we are seeing reduced customer appetite for certain types of savings products. As a consequence, product innovation and diversification have never been more important. And the continued growth in our Asian operations more than compensates the reduced new business volume in Life in Europe"