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Groupama’s 2021 Annual Results

Premium income of €15.5 billion (+7.5%)

  • Sharp increase in life and health insurance, driven by the excellent performance of the individual savings & pensions segment in France, particularly in unit-linked policies (+47.1%)
  • Sustained international business growth (+8.4%) both in life and health insurance and property and casualty insurance

Net income of €493 million (+178.5%)

  • Increase in economic operational result to €461 million (+50.7%), driven by life insurance activity
  • Non-life combined ratio of 98.3% in line with our objectives

Solvency ratio without transitional measure of 183%

  • A solvency ratio of 271% with transitional measure
  • IFRS shareholders’ equity of €10.7 billion

“In 2021, Groupama posted strong growth in all its business lines, in France and internationally, and our results, both operating and net, were high, exceeding their pre-health crisis level. We have also continued to strengthen the Group’s solvency and have demonstrated our financial flexibility, successfully issuing our first green bonds.”, stated Thierry Martel, CEO of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

 “The year 2021 once again demonstrated the strength of Groupama’s mutualism model, with very satisfactory annual results in a fluctuating environment. This year will also be remembered for the work carried out in conjunction with the French government, which has given a new dimension to agricultural weather insurance in France. The Group naturally remains mobilized and vigilant with regard to the situation in Ukraine and its global macroeconomic consequences.” added Jean-Yves Dagès, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

Paris, 11 March 2022 – The Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles met on 10 March 2022, under the chairmanship of Jean-Yves Dagès, and approved the Group’s combined financial statements for fiscal year 2021.

Business

At 31 December 2021, Groupama’s combined premium income stood at €15.5 billion, up sharply (+7.5%) from 31 December 2020.

Business was up for life and health insurance (+10.6%), where the Group generated €7.8 billion in premium income at 31 December 2021, as well as for property and casualty insurance (+4.0%), with premium income of €7.5 billion.

Groupama’s combined premium income at 31 December 2021

in millions of euros 31/12/2021 Like-for-like change (%)
Property and casualty insurance 7,483 +4.0%
Life and health insurance 7,755 +10.6%
Financial businesses 240 +26.9%
GROUP TOTAL 15,477 +7.5%
    • In France

Insurance premium income in France at 31 December 2021 amounted to €12.9 billion, up +7.1% compared with 31 December 2020.

In property and casualty insurance, premium income totalled €5.8 billion at 31 December 2021, up +2.6% compared with 2020. The retail and professional insurance business was up +1.7% to €3.4 billion. That increase was driven by growth in motor insurance (+1.7% to €1.6 billion), professional risks (+4.2% to €443 million) and home insurance (+0.5% to €1.1 billion). Insurance for businesses and local authorities (€1.0 billion) was up +7.3%, driven by the good performance of the fleet segment (+3.8%) and the business and local authorities casualty segment (+10.9%). The growth in the agricultural insurance lines (+2.5%) is mainly explained by the effect of premium reductions granted in 2020 in connection with the health crisis.

In life and health insurance, premium income increased sharply (+11.1%) to €7.0 billion. The Group’s life and capitalisation premium income in France increased +20.4%. This change is mainly linked to growth in individual savings activity (+36.9%), particularly in unit-linked policies (+32%), as well as individual pension-savings activity which benefited from the success of the PERIN product, with +85.7% growth for unit-linked policies. Including arbitrage operations (euro to unit-linked funds), Fourgous transfers and unit-linked net inflows, the rate of actuarial reserves in unit-linked individual savings is 31.9% compared with 28.8% at 31 December 2020.
Health and personal injury premium income at 31 December 2021 was up +3.6% from the previous period due to increases in health insurance (+2.7%) and group inward reinsurance (+13.0%). 

    • International

At 31 December 2021, business reached €2.4 billion, up +8.4% on a like-for-like basis and with constant exchange rates compared with 31 December 2020.

Property and casualty insurance premium income totalled €1.6 billion at 31 December 2021, a +9.4% increase from the previous period. This strong growth is driven by the motor insurance segment (+10.1%) which is growing in most countries, particularly Romania where it has benefited from the failure of a major competitor. The strong performance of the business and local authority protection segment (+14.7%) is also worth noting, particularly in Italy, Turkey, Hungary and Romania.

In life and health insurance, premium income is up +6.1% to €736 million. Individual life and health insurance increased by +4.9% thanks to the growth in individual savings/retirement (+2.8%), mainly in Hungary. Group life and health insurance was up +14.3%, supported by the growth in the group retirement (+12.0%) and group health (+21.3%) segments, particularly in Greece and Romania.

    • Financial businesses

The Group’s premium income was €240 million, including €233 million from Groupama Asset Management and €6 million from Groupama Epargne Salariale.
Groupama Asset Management’s assets under management amounted to €117.2 billion at 31 December 2021, of which 28.4% on behalf of third-party customers. 

Results

The Group’s economic operating income totalled €461 million at 31 December 2021 compared with €306 million at 31 December 2020.

It includes €467 million in economic operating income from insurance in 2021, up €119 million from 2020.
In life and health insurance, economic operating income was €319 million in 2021 compared with €206 million in 2020. This change is mainly due to activity in France which, on the one hand, recorded a sharp increase in its underwriting income this year, particularly in retirement savings and which, on the other, had been severely affected in terms of group insurance in 2020 as a result of the health crisis.
In property and casualty insurance, net economic operating income increased slightly to stand at +€148 million compared with +€142 million as at 31 December 2020. The non-life combined ratio was 98.3% in 2021, vs 98.7% in 2020. The year 2021 in France was marked by a high climatic loss experience in the first half of the year (frost on harvests at the start of April, thunderstorms and flooding from 16 to 29 June) although by a lower weight for other perils (drought, storm) than in previous years. The cost of severe claims is lower than in financial year 2020, which included operating losses for administrative closures linked to the pandemic.
Operating expenses are under control, with a ratio of 27.8%, stable compared with 2020.

The economic operating income from financial businesses amounted to +€62 million, and the Group’s holding business posted an economic operating loss of -€68 million at 31 December 2021.

The reconciliation of economic operating income to net income includes non-recurring items of +€32 million at 31 December 2021 versus –€129 million at 31 December 2020. This change is mainly due, firstly, to the increase in the non-recurring financial margin (+€42 million) linked to the increase in realised capital gains, as well as to changes in the fair value of assets and, secondly, the absence of impairment of goodwill in 2021.

The Group’s overall net income totalled €493 million at 31 December 2021 compared with €177 million at 31 December 2020.

Balance sheet

The Group’s IFRS shareholders’ equity totalled €10.7 billion at 31 December 2021. This figure includes for €638 million the mutual certificates issued by Groupama since the end of 2015.

Subordinated debt classified as financing debt reached €2,132 million in 2021, including the first issue of subordinated green bonds by the Group in July 2021 for a total amount of €500 million.

Insurance investments amounted to €91.7 billion in 2021 compared with €92.4 billion in 2020. The Group’s unrealised capital gains were €9.9 billion at 31 December 2021, including €6.0 billion from the bond portfolio, €1.6 billion from the equity portfolio, and €2.3 billion from property assets.

At 31 December 2021, the Solvency 2 ratio, without a transitional measure on underwriting reserves, was 183%. The 31 points increase in the coverage rate compared with the end of 2020 is mainly due to the 2021 results, the issue of subordinated green bonds and changes in financial market conditions. The ratio with the transitional measure on underwriting reserves, authorised by the ACPR (French insurance and banking regulator), was 271%.

The Group’s financial strength was highlighted by Fitch Ratings, which affirmed Groupama’s ‘A’ rating and upgraded the outlook to “Positive” on 21 June 2021.

Group Communications Department

Press contacts: Analyst and investor contacts:
Safia Bouda – + 33 (0)6 02 04 48 63
safia.bouda@groupama.com
Marie-Laure Renaudie – + 33 (0)6 07 14 25 65
marie-laure.renaudie@groupama.com

Yvette Baudron – +33 (0)6 89 30 11 47
yvette.baudron@groupama.com
Valérie Buffard – +33 (0)6 70 04 12 38
valerie.buffard@groupama.com

  

Groupama’s financial information now covers only the combined financial statements, which include all businesses of the Group (business of the regional mutuals and business of subsidiaries consolidated in Groupama Assurances Mutuelles).

For the financial statements at 31/12/2021, the Group’s financial information consists of:

  • this press release, which is available on the website groupama.com;
  • the universal registration document of Groupama, which will be filed with the AMF on 28 April 2022 and posted on the www.groupama.com website on 29 April 2022.

Get all the latest news about Groupama

  • on its website: www.groupama.com
  • and on Twitter: @GroupeGroupama

 Appendix – Groupama key figures

  1. /    Premium income
  2020 2021 2021/2020
  Reported premium income Pro forma premium income* Reported premium income Change **
€ million as %
> FRANCE 12,011 12,011 12,860 +7.1%
Life and health insurance 6,319 6,319 7,019 +11.1%
Property and casualty insurance 5,692 5,692 5,842 +2.6%
> INTERNATIONAL & Overseas 2,245 2,194 2,377 +8.4%
Life and health insurance 705 693 736 +6.1%
Property and casualty insurance 1,540 1,500 1,641 +9.4%
TOTAL INSURANCE 14,256 14,205 15,237 +7.3%
FINANCIAL BUSINESSES 189 189 240 +26.9%
TOTAL 14,445 14,394 15,477 +7.5%

* based on comparable data
** change on a like-for-like exchange rate and consolidation basis

  1. /    Economic operating income*
€ million 2020 2021 2021/2020 change
Insurance – France 326 426 +100
Insurance – International 23 41 +18
Financial businesses 43 62 +19
Holding companies -86 -68 +18
TOTAL 306 461 +155

* Economic operating income: equals net income adjusted for realised capital gains and losses, long-term impairment provision allocations and write-backs, and unrealised capital gains and losses on financial assets recognised at fair value (all such items are net of profit sharing and corporate income tax). Also adjusted are non-recurring items net of corporate income tax, impairment of value of business in force, impairment of goodwill (net of corporate income tax), and external financing expenses.

  1. /    Net income
  2020 2021 2021/2020 change
€ million
Economic operating income 306 461 +155
Net realised capital gains* 118 135 +17
Long-term impairment losses on financial instruments* -32 -20 +12
Gains and losses on financial assets and derivatives recognised at fair value* 45 58 +13
Financing expenses -49 -53 -3
Goodwill impairment -125 0 +125
Other expenses and income -85 -89 -4
Net income 177 493 +315

* amounts net of profit sharing and corporate tax

Contribution of businesses to combined net income

€ million 2020 2021
Insurance and services – France 294 406
Insurance – international subsidiaries 11 42
Financial businesses -8 62
Holding and others -120 -17
Net income 177 493

  1. /   Balance sheet
€ million 2020 2021
Group’s IFRS equity 10,704 10,659
Subordinated debts 2,729 3,231
– classified in Group’s IFRS equity  1,099 1,099
– classified as “financing debt” 1,632 2,132
Gross unrealised capital gains 11,788 9,886
Total balance sheet 104,702 104,469

  1. /    Main ratios
  2020 2021
Non-life net combined ratio 98.7% 98.3%
Debt-to-equity ratio* 25.8% 27.8%
Solvency 2 ratio (with transitional measure) 244% 271%
Solvency 2 ratio (without transitional measure) 152% 183%

* ratio calculated using the method applied by our rating agency

F/Financial strength rating – Fitch Ratings

  Rating * Outlook
Groupama Assurances Mutuelles and its subsidiaries A Positive

* Insurer Financial Strength (IFS)

Attachment

Groupama Assurances Mutuelles Groupama’s 2021 Annual Results