Strong international growth and continued transformation of technical reserves Increased financial strength

 

  • Premium income1 of €19.9 billion (up 22.4% vs first-half 2021)
  • EBIT of €1,874 million (up 21.2% vs first-half 2021)
  • Attributable net profit of €748 million (up 8.4% vs first-half 2021)
  • SCR coverage ratio of 249% (up 32 points vs 31 December 2021)

 

Highlights

 

Premium income of €19.9 billion, up 22.4% as reported (up 2.2% like-for-like2) vs first-half 2021

- Savings/Pensions premiums of €16.6 billion, reflecting strong momentum in international markets, with unit-linked sales representing 49.5% of the total, up 0.3 points

  • In France, premium income down 3.3% to €8.4 billion, with unit-linked sales representing 32.4% of the total, up 3.9 points, and PACTE transfers of €2.8 billion
  • In Europe outside France, premium income of €5 billion (up 12.5% like-for-like), reflecting strong momentum at CNP Unicredit Vita (CUV), the contribution of the newly acquired subsidiaries CNP Vita Assicura/Assicurazione (CVA), and a solid performance at CNP Luxembourg, with premiums up €4 million and a 7.2-point increase in the proportion of unit-linked sales to 56%
  • In Latin America, premium income of €3.2 billion, up 14.4% like-for-like, led by the Pensions business

- Total Personal Risk/Protection premiums of €3.3 billion, up 1.1% like-for-like

EBIT of €1,874 million, up 21.2% as reported (up 13.5% like-for-like)

Attributable net profit up 8.4% (up 4.6% like-for-like) at €748 million

Improved Group cost/income ratio of 28.1% (down 1 point), with France down 0.6 points, Europe excluding France down 6.7 points, and Latin America up 0.6 points excluding scope and currency effects

Consolidated SCR coverage ratio of 249% at 30 June 2022 (up 32 points vs 31 December 2021)

 

Stéphane Dedeyan, CNP Assurances’ Chief Executive Officer, said:

“Our latest Italian acquisition3, alongside our partner UniCredit, has strengthened our open distribution model business in this region. It also rounds out our other successful recent acquisitions in Italy and supports our multi-partner growth strategy in France and abroad. We are continuing to transform our technical reserves, with unit-linked sales representing 49.5% of the Group’s total Savings new money for the period. Amid rising interest rates and spiralling inflation, the SCR coverage ratio of 249%, up 32 points, attests to the quality of our balance sheet and the financial strength of the CNP Assurances Group, as well as reinforcing our ambition to win new markets.”

 

1. First-half 2022 business review

 

The strong first-half growth in consolidated premium income to €19.9 billion (up €3.6 billion or 22.4%) reflected the €2.7 billion contribution of the new Italian subsidiaries (CVA). On a like-for-like basis, premium income rose by €357 million (up 2.2%), led by international operations (up €631 million or 11.3%). Premiums in Latin America were up €346 million (up 11.6%), reflecting strong Pensions business in Brazil, and Savings premiums in Europe excluding France were up €263 million (up 12.5%). In France, Savings/Pensions new money contracted by 3%, with the decline in new money invested in traditional savings products partly offset by higher unit-linked sales.

In France, premium income amounted to €10.4 billion, down by a slight 2.6% compared with first-half 2021.

- Savings/Pensions premium income of €8.4 billion was down by a modest €288 million (down 3.3%), with the €245 million increase in unit-linked sales (up 9.9%) helping to offset the €533 million decline in new money invested in traditional savings products (down 8.6%). The strong unit-linked performance was attributable to La Banque Postale (LBP, up €124 million or 12%), which led the drive to transform technical reserves, and to CNP Patrimoine (up €154 million or 18.1%), which won several major deals with a unit-linked weighting of over 50%. All told, unit-linked products accounted for 32.4% of total premium income in France, up 3.9 points vs first-half 2021 (increases of 3.1 points at La Banque Postale to 29.9% and 10.4 points at CNP Patrimoine to 59.3%).
PACTE transfers for the period, which are not included in premium income, amounted to €2.8 billion, generating a 13-point gain in unit-linked weighting on transition between the old and new contracts.

- Personal Risk/Protection premium income in France was up 0.7% versus first-half 2021 at €2 billion, led by growth in term creditor insurance to keep pace with higher loan originations by the Group’s main partners. Personal risk premiums were stable at €677 million.

In Europe excluding France, premium income came in at €5.6 billion, an increase of 115.4%.

- Savings/Pensions new money rose by a strong €2.9 billion, of which €2.7 billion was contributed by the CVA subsidiaries. On a comparable scope basis, premium income rose by €263 million to €2.4 billion, including €219 million growth at CUV generated by marketing campaigns focused on traditional savings accounts with a unit-linked formula. For CUV, the proportion of total premiums represented by unit-linked contracts was a high 74.3%. CNP Luxembourg performed well, with the €85 million increase in new money reflecting sustained business and the Covid-related low basis of comparison. The proportion of total premiums represented by unit-linked contracts rose by 7.2 points to 56%.

- Personal Risk/Protection premium income increased by €85 million to €0.6 billion, including €63 million contributed by CVA. On a comparable scope basis, premium income rose by €22 million, driven by the success of the products launched in the second quarter of 2021 by CUV, which reported premium income up €28 million (including €19 million growth in personal risk insurance and a €9 million increase in term creditor insurance).

In Latin America, premium income came in at €3.9 billion, up 30.2%.

- Savings/Pensions premium income amounted to €3.2 billion (€2.8 billion like-for-like), with the Pensions business in Brazil up by a strong €352 million (up 14.7% like-for-like).

- Personal Risk/Protection premiums were stable at €0.7 billion (down €1 million or 0.1% at constant exchange rates), supported by Prestamista (up €15 million) and the personal risk business (up €11 million) which offset almost the entire run‑off impact of the property & casualty business (down €20 million) and the Hipotecario business (down €8 million).

 

2. First-half 2022 results indicators

 

Net insurance revenue for the period amounted to €1,759 million, up 19.6% as reported (up 8.2% like-for-like).

In France, net insurance revenue rose by €60 million to €995 million (up 6.4%). This performance was attributable to improved loss ratios in term creditor insurance (positive impact of €26 million or 8%) and the higher contribution of the Savings/Pensions business (positive impact of €35 million or 5.7%), lifted by improved yields on technical reserves, combined with favourable unit-linked mix and volume effects.

In Europe excluding France, net insurance revenue was €287 million, an increase of 89.1% as reported (up 24.0% like-for-like). The increase was mainly driven by CUV (up €34 million), reflecting a favourable change in the Savings product mix (€12 million positive impact), a favourable volume effect in Personal Risk/Protection (€6 million positive impact) and the changed frequency of technical reserve loading deductions (€17 million positive impact).

In Latin America, net insurance revenue amounted to €477 million, up 24.1% as reported (up 6.3% like-for-like). The increased margin reflected a €17 million favourable volume effect in Pensions and the €19 million positive impact of the Covid-related low basis of comparison in 2021.

Revenue from own-funds portfolios came to €610 million (up 20.9% as reported and up 21.8% like-for-like). The €109 million (22.9%) increase in France stemmed from the execution during the period of the entire 2022 profit-taking programme.

Total revenue rose 19.9% as reported (up 11.7% like-for-like) to €2,368 million.

Administrative costs came in at €494 million, up 15.5% as reported (up 5.2% like-for-like) in a period shaped by rising inflation in all geographies and a €7.3 million increase in revenue-based taxes in France.

The cost/income ratio stood at a steady 28.1% (down 1 point as reported and down 0.8 points like-for-like), with a 0.6-point improvement in France to 32.6% and a 6.7-point like-for-like improvement in Europe excluding France to 34.9%. In Latin America, the cost/income ratio remained low at 15.9% (16.1% like-for-like).

EBIT amounted to €1,874 million, up 21.2% as reported (up 13.5% like-for-like).

Attributable net profit was €748 million, up 8.4% as reported (up 4.6% like-for-like), resulting from the increase in total revenues offset by an allocation to PPEG of €292m to cope with the uncertain macro-economic environment.

IFRS book value was €15.6 billion.

The consolidated SCR coverage ratio was 249% at 30 June 2022, up 32 points on end‑2021 (217%). The 32-point3 improvement breaks down as follows:
+29 points: favourable market trends over the period, including rising interest rates;
+3 points: inclusion in own funds of profit for the period, net of dividends;
+3 points: Tier 3 debt issue (€500 million) at the end of January 2022;
-2 points: regulatory decrease in the Ultimate Forward Rate (UFR);
-1 point: other effects.