A word from the Chairman
Jean-Paul Faugère,
Chairman of the Board of Directors
The successful launch of our 100% digital business in Brazil epitomises the Group’s potential for innovation.
2016 was a good year for CNP Assurances. Our results show this was the case, and so do the conversations that follow in this report. Our attributable net profit rose by over 6% to €1,200 million, demonstrating the Group’s ability to meet its targets despite the low level of interest rates in Europe and recession in Brazil.
The Board of Directors wishes to pay tribute to the remarkable commitment shown by employees and the quality of the work led by Frédéric Lavenir, our Chief Executive Officer, to execute the strategy approved by directors.
The commercial partnerships we have extended for another term with our major distributors in France started up in 2016. The highly positive momentum we have achieved with BPCE’s teams makes us optimistic about our ability to build a model generating shared value in savings and in personal risk and protection. With La Banque Postale, our expansion goals hold the promise of solid results. We have high hopes for every area of this alliance, including the digital segment, given the harmony we have achieved by aligning our interests.
Performance in Latin America was again vibrant. Growth has held up in the region at an impressive level for over 15 years despite everything that has happened. In 2016, the successful launch of our 100% digital business under the Youse brand name epitomises the CNP Assurances group’s potential for innovation.
In northern Europe, our CNP Santander Consumer Finance subsidiary delivered impressive growth of 20% in its premium income in personal risk and protection.
2016 was the first year of full implementation of the governance rules laid down in the Solvency II directive, which required a great deal of adaptation. Internally and in our relationships with the supervisory and market authorities, our new operating procedures promote transparent management and high-quality governance. The Board of Directors has played a major role in this. It approved 18 key policies, including on underwriting, capital management, outsourcing, investments, reinsurance and compliance. The Board also determined the Group’s risk appetite through the adoption of the ORSA report(1) and issued its opinion on the actuarial function’s report.
The Board of Directors’ collective endeavours included in-depth discussions with the executive management team and with the Statutory Auditors, whose analysis backed up our discussions. All the directors have played a full part as their duties require, and the quality of the discussions at Board meetings has been very high. Our unwavering goal has been to be deserving of the trust placed in us by our shareholders and to make sure that our customers receive the best possible service.
Given our high-quality results and the ambitions we have based on our strategy, we have raised our EBIT target for 2018. We are thus stating our ambitions at a time of rapid and far-reaching changes in the insurance sector, with the confidence that comes from our history and our culture.
(1) ORSA (Own Risk and Solvency Assessment): internal assessment of risks and solvency