Because Unipol will not eat UnipolSai
Numbers, comparisons and scenarios from the 2022 financial statements of the Unipol group. The article by Emanuela Rossi
Profit and income grow in 2022 for Unipol. Positive numbers that lead the insurance company led by Carlo Cimbri to increase dividends for shareholders who will receive a total of 265 million euros.
"We closed the first year of the plan on the right track" said the general manager of Unipol Matteo Laterza, during the conference call with analysts. According to the general manager, Ansa reports, the group has achieved "very solid results in a challenging context". Laterza, answering a question, also reiterated his no to the merger between the holding company Unipol and the subsidiary UnipolSai: the operation "doesn't make much sense because at the moment we are in a position to be able to generate a return on the holding company which is higher than the company operations and this can justify the investment in the holding itself”.
PROFIT +8.8% TO 866 MILLION
A plus sign therefore in 2022 for Unipol which sees net profit grow by 8.8% to €866m compared to €796m in 2021. As informed by the insurance company, net of extraordinary items, which include costs for the solidarity fund for the early retirement of around 900 employees, the normalized profit rises by as much as 55%, from 514 to 797 million.
The combined ratio of the non-life business, which records the profitability of technical management, improves from 92.5% in 2021 to 91%, thus contributing to the growth in pre-tax profit from 821 to 846 million, a figure that rises to 947 million net non-recurring items (there were 722 million in 2021). In the life business, pre-tax profit rose from 213 to 273 million and the normalized one from 206 to 293 million, thanks to “the improvement in both technical and financial margins favored by the context of current and prospective growth interest rates”.
GROWING PREMIUMS (+2.4%) THANKS TO NON-LIFE BUSINESS (+4.5%)
Inflows increased by 2.4% to 13.6 billion. In detail, the non-life business grew by 4.5% to 8.3 billion euro, thanks to a positive performance in all sectors: mobility (+1.8% to 4.2 billion), welfare (+11% 1.7 billion), property (+5.4% to 2.4 billion). The group highlights the results achieved by UniSalute, with premiums of 574 million (+10.6%), and by Arca Assicurazioni, whose premium income is up by 29.1% "confirming the strategic nature of the relationship with banking partners" , i.e. Bper and Popolare di Sondrio, "through which the group's products are distributed".
On the motor front, the Motor sector is up by 1.3% compared to 2021 and records premiums of 3.888 billion. “2022 was characterized by a progressive recovery in the frequency of claims after the Covid pandemic – Unipol pointed out -, which was accompanied by a significant increase in the average cost of claims due, in particular, to the pressure of inflation on the costs of vehicle repair. The group's MV premium income was positive, thanks both to the increase in the customer portfolio and to the sale of ancillary guarantees, which marked a 5.6% growth in premiums”.
At the same time, premium income in the life business fell (-0.8%) to 5.3 billion. As stated in the note accompanying the accounts for 2022, there is "an unfavorable market context, characterized by high levels of inflation, high volatility on the financial markets and the rise in interest rates" which has led families to reduce "the demand for life insurance policies".
Good news from the real estate sector, the holding company and other businesses where losses are reduced from 83 million to 10 million because benefits come from the "significant recovery" of the hotel sector, which closes the year with a profit after two years penalized by the Covid pandemic.
ASSETS DOWN TO 7.6 BILLION
Consolidated shareholders' equity decreased, which at 31 December 2022 amounted to 7,662 million euros compared to 9,722 million euros at 31 December 2021. bonds and shares in the portfolio". A minus also for the solvency ratio from 214% at the end of 2021 to 201%, which in any case remains twice above the regulatory minimums and has already discounted the distribution of the dividend.
DIVIDEND AND FORECASTS
The numbers for the 2022 financial year lead the board to distribute, from the financial statements for the year, dividends of 265 million euros – 0.37 euros per share, +23% on 2021 – a figure "higher than forecasts in the strategic plan" which has programmed coupons of 750 million euro for the three-year period 2022-2024. For 2023 Unipol confirms "an income performance of the consolidated management in line with the objectives".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/perche-unipol-non-si-mangera-unipolsai/ on Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:29:13 +0000.