A strong financial and operational performance

Ageas delivered an excellent commercial performance in 2024 and successfully closed the Impact24 strategic plan.

In 2024, Group inflows were up more than 10% at constant exchange rate and constant scope (excluding France) compared to the previous year, amounting to EUR 18.5 billion.  

• In Life, Portugal posted a strong growth with several campaigns launched. Thanks to these campaigns, inflows in Portugal increased 45%. In Belgium Life, inflows returned to growth driven by Group Life & Invest, while the strong growth in Malaysia, India and China drove the 7% inflow increase in Asia. 

• Non-Life inflows were up 14% primarily driven by the consolidated entities. Strong growth in the UK (21%) was driven by customer and premium growth alongside excellent underwriting profitability. Inflows in Portugal were up 11% with growth in all business lines supported by repricing actions in Health Care and Motor.  

• The Reinsurance Protection business maintained its growth trajectory, with inflows increasing 52% in its second year of operation. 

The Net Operating Result for the Group increased to EUR 1.24 billion despite a higher effective tax rate, representing a 16.3% Return on Equity.  

• The Life Guaranteed margin of 149 bps and the Life Unit-Linked margin of 41 bps reflect the strong operating performance of the Life business. The Life Net Operating result reached EUR 909 million, driven by an increase of 25% in the Insurance result reflecting the quality of the business. The result was however offset by higher taxes in Asia. 

• The Non-Life performance was strong across all segments, leading to a Combined ratio of 93.3% for the Group. This translated into a Net Operating Result for the Non-Life business of EUR 454 million, up 17% compared to last year and mainly driven by an excellent performance in the UK and in Reinsurance.  

• The Contractual Service Margin (CSM) at the end of 2024 amounted to EUR 9.5 billion. The overall growth in Life led to an increased New Business contribution to the CSM of EUR 906 million. The Operating CSM movement amounted to EUR 424 million and was mainly driven by Asia. This translated into an Operating CSM growth of 4.6%, up 140 bps compared to last year. 

• At the end of 2024, the Comprehensive equity stood at EUR 16.1 billion or EUR 88.14 per share compared to EUR 85.04 per share at the end of 2023. This comprises the sum of the Shareholders’ equity of EUR 7.8 billion, the unrealised gains and losses on real estate and the CSM of the Life business. The increase of the Comprehensive equity was driven by the strong contribution of the Net Operating Result and Operating CSM movement. 

• In a volatile market environment, Ageas’s Solvency II Pillar 2 ratio remained resilient increasing by 1 percentage point over 2024 to reach a high 218%, largely above the Group’s neutral level of 175%. The insurance operations contributed 25 percentage points, more than covering the dividend.  

• The solvency of the non-Solvency II scope companies stood at 296% up by 14 percentage points over 2024. The increase was mainly thanks to increased solvency in China supported by amongst other the decreasing interest rate.  

• Operational Capital Generation over the period was up 23% in 2024, for the first time exceeding the EUR 2 billion mark. This included a significant amount of EUR 1.1 billion generated by the Solvency II scope companies driven by a high contribution from Belgium, Europe and Reinsurance. The non-Solvency II scope entities generated EUR 1.3 billion, while the General Account consumed EUR 164 million. This illustrates the strong operating performance across the Group. 

• Operational Free Capital Generation, including both the Solvency II and the non-Solvency II scope, amounted to an exceptionally high EUR 1.5 billion in 2024. 

You are reading an article that is part of our Annual Report 2024.