MAPFRE forecasts increased net operating earnings of more than €700 million in 2021, the company announced at its annual meeting last week.
The accounts for fiscal year 2020 were approved at the meeting, recording an operating result of €658 million with net earnings of €527 million. A final dividend of 7.5 euro cents per share (gross) was approved at the meeting, bringing the total charged against results to 12.5 euro cents per share (gross). MAPFRE will pay its shareholders a total of €385 million from results.
During the meeting, which was held remotely due to COVID-19 concerns, MAPFRE chairman and CEO Antonio Huertas reviewed the company’s progress through 2020 and outlined its commitments for 2021. MAPFRE is expecting to produce premium growth of around 3% year over year in 2021, projecting attributable net earnings of more than €700 million for the year and a return on equity of around 8.5%. The group expects its combined ratio to stand at approximately 95% for the year.
“In 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, we were able to very successfully meet our objective of rewarding shareholders with an excellent dividend despite the circumstances of the market and supervisory authorities, while maintaining a high solvency margin with adequate control of liquidity in all our operations,” Huertas said. “We have a healthier balance sheet, an excellent solvency position, better-performing technical foundations and operational transformation underway, all of which should enable us to grow steadily and profitably in the coming years.”
Huertas said that the development of MAPFRE’s digital business – where premiums already amount to €1.13 billion – has been strengthened to support profitable growth for the company, as has MAPFRE’s commitment to innovation. He said that nearly 700,000 clients had already benefited from products and services originating in the MAPFRE Open Innovation platform.
Huertas said that MAPFRE has already surpassed equality objectives set for the company during the 2019-2021 period, having already exceeded the goal of having 45% of job positions of responsibility filled by women and 3% of the global workforce composed of people with disabilities.
