Generali sees profitability despite COVID-19

“We are presenting excellent results, obtained in an unprecedented context due to the crisis generated by the pandemic.”

Those were the words of group chief executive Philippe Donnet when Generali released the insurer’s financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The insurance group, which is celebrating its 190th anniversary this year, remained profitable in 2020, albeit at a lower level.

Here’s how the Italy-headquartered insurer performed in the past year:

“For the second consecutive year, we have achieved the group’s best-ever operating result and, also thanks to the further growth of the dividend, we continue to create value for all of our stakeholders,” noted Donnet, whose camp’s proposed dividend is at €1.47 per share. “We have entered the final year of our strategic plan and are well positioned to achieve all of the objectives of ‘Generali 2021’.

“We have defined and implemented a new organisational structure to ensure, not only the success of this plan, but to also prepare for the next strategic cycle. The group has accelerated its business transformation to guarantee that we have a distribution model that increasingly blends both physical and digital and, thanks to the innovative spirit of our employees and agents, ensures that we are now closer to our customers than ever before.”

Additionally, Generali’s Solvency II ratio stands at 224%, thanks to what the company said is record capital generation worth €4 billion. Its adjusted net profit, or the net result without the impact of gains and losses related to disposals, amounted to €1.9 billion.

Meanwhile Donnet also stated: “I am very proud that in the critical moment of the crisis, Generali took immediate action with our Extraordinary International Fund [for COVID-19] and other high-impact initiatives to support the communities and territories in which we operate.”