Unipol, profit at 724 million: 2024 targets confirmed

Unipol closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of €724m, down 5.9% on the same period of 2023, impacted by the allocation of a €103m post-tax solidarity fund for the early retirement of around 500 employees. Profit, on the other hand, rose 8.5% to EUR 834m, including the contribution of Bper and Banca popolare di Sondrio based on their results as at 30 September. Premiums rose 9.1% to €11.4bn, with life business up 9.6% to €4.9bn and non-life up 8.7% to €6.5bn. The board also appointed Laterza as new CEO until the approval of the 2024 financial statements.

The amount of the fund, which before tax amounts to €149m and will take effect in the coming years, may be revised at the end of 2024 on the basis of actual employee adherence. Unipol's capital strength improved over the nine months: the solvency ratio rose to 224% from 215% at the end of 2023, while the insurance solvency ratio rose from 275% to 286%. The increase in premiums in non-life business, whose pre-tax profit rose from € 514 million to € 543 million, was due to the "positive performance" of all the ecosystems in which Unipol operates, with Unipolsai recording premium income up 6.2% to € 5,118 million and UniSalute seeing premiums rise 27.5% to € 716 million. There was significant progress in the bancassurance channel in which Arca Assicurazioni operates (+15.5% to € 230 million). The combined ratio, an indicator of technical operating profitability, stood at 93.9%, with a widespread improvement across several lines of business, compared with 98.6% in the first nine months of 2023, which had also been affected by a higher incidence of natural catastrophe claims. In life business, UnipolSai posted premium income of € 2,548 million (-2.7%), while in the bancassurance channel Arca Vita rose 27.5% to € 2,350 million. Pre-tax profit amounted to € 225 million compared to € 221 million in 2023. As regards the two banking subsidiaries, Bper and Popolare di Sondrio, the contribution in the first nine months amounted to €196m, which rises to €306m if the results as at 30 September of the two institutions are taken into account. As regards the holding and other businesses, Gruppo Una continued to make a positive contribution, recording revenue growth and gross profit of around €24m, while the overall result was a loss of €20m, partly due to the costs associated with the merger with UnipolSai.

Unipol confirms the objectives of its strategic plan to 2024. "The performance recorded in the first nine months and the information currently available allow the group to confirm, in the absence of currently unforeseeable events linked to a possible worsening of the economic context with particular reference to the financial markets or extreme weather events, an income performance of consolidated operations for the current year in line with the objectives set out in the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan," reads the note on the results for the first nine months

Matteo Laterza has been appointed by the Unipol board of directors as the new chief executive officer of the Bologna-based holding company, which is close to merging with its insurance subsidiary UnipolSai. The decision was taken yesterday by the board and Laterza - underlines a note - will hold the position for the remainder of his term of office and, therefore, until the shareholders' meeting to approve the 2024 financial statements. Until yesterday Laterza was general manager of the Unipol group and CEO of UnipolSai.

In any case, everything suggests that, even with the renewal of the board of directors, there will be continuity. In mid-September, Unipol chairman Carlo Cimbri, declaring himself available for a new mandate ('I wouldn't see myself in other companies'), had also specified how 'it would have been logical for Laterza', already CEO of UnipolSai, to be CEO of the post-aggregation company' with Unipol as well, although he recalled that in this sphere 'the shareholders decide'.