Thomas
Fossard
Investor Relations
Body
- SCOR successfully delivers on its targets for its strategic plan “Vision in Action” on a normalized basis, despite significant industry, regulatory and geopolitical headwinds over the period.
- The Group delivers strong and profitable growth for the first half of 2019, combining franchise expansion and a robust solvency.
- Gross written premiums total EUR 8,010 million in the first half of 2019, up 6.3% at current exchange rates (up 2.6% at constant exchange rates). In P&C, gross written premiums are up 13.9% at current exchange rates (up 10.4% at constant exchanges rates). In Life, gross written premiums are up 1.2% at current exchange rates (down 2.6% at constant exchanges rates). This variation is largely driven by the renewal of certain Financial Solutions deals as fee business (rather than as premiums) in H1 2019. Excluding these deals, Life gross written premiums would have grown by 7.9% at current exchange rates (3.8% at constant exchanges rates).
- SCOR Global P&C delivers strong growth and technical profitability, driven by renewals in 2019 and the effect of strong renewals in the second half of 2018, particularly in the U.S. The business records an excellent net combined ratio of 93.7%, ahead of the “Vision in Action” assumption of ~95-96%.
- SCOR Global Life delivers strong technical profitability alongside business growth in North American and Asian markets and records a strong technical margin of 7.2%.
- SCOR Global Investments delivers a return on invested assets of 2.8%, supported by an income yield of 2.6%.
- Group net income is EUR 286 million for H1 2019, up 9.2% compared to H1 2018. The return on equity (ROE) is 9.8%, 908 bps above the risk-free rate[1], exceeding the “Vision in Action” profitability target.
- Total cash flow is EUR 357 million for the first half of 2019, of which net operating cash flow is EUR 33 million. SCOR Global P&C, which is historically always lower in the first half of the year, was impacted by the payments on 2017 and 2018 cat events, and SCOR Global Life experienced lower cash flow as a result of the volatility on claims payment activity and seasonality of client and tax settlements. Total Group liquidity is strong, standing at 1.7 billion.
- Shareholders’ equity is EUR 6.1 billion at June 30, 2019, after the dividend payment of EUR 325 million. This results in a strong book value per share of EUR 32.59, compared to
EUR 31.53 at December 31, 2018.
- Financial leverage stands at 26.4% on June 30, 2019, down 1.1 points compared to December 31, 2018.
- Estimated solvency ratio on June 30, 2019, is 212%, in the upper part of the optimal solvency range of 185% - 220% as defined in the “Vision in Action” plan. Market movements within the quarter – particularly the decrease in interest rates – have offset the strong capital generation in H1.
SCOR Group H1 and Q2 2019 key financial details:
Denis Kessler, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SCOR, comments: “SCOR delivers a strong performance in the first six months of 2019, achieving the solvency target and outperforming the profitability target set out in “Vision in Action”. The Group continues to expand its franchise, recording controlled growth in target geographical areas and lines of business, while delivering excellent technical profitability in both P&C and Life reinsurance. We are actively preparing our new strategic plan, which will be presented at the beginning of September. This plan – SCOR’s seventh since 2002 – will be an opportunity for the Group to affirm its ambitions, set its objectives and detail the ways and means used to pursue its strong value-creating strategy over the coming years.”
[1] Based on a 5-year rolling average of 5-year risk-free rates (70 bps in H1 2019 and 73 bps in H1 2018).
