Bermuda’s Athora flags new equity and strategic objectives in results

Bermuda-based Athora Holding, a re/insurer group focused on the European market, saw its profits dip last year but its secured €630 million of new equity commitments, something its CEO said would support its continued growth and investments in the business.

Its group IFRS profit before tax (from continuing operations) was €428 million, a big drop on the €709 million it posted in 2020. The reduction was primarily attributable to the non-recurrence of the one-off gain on acquisition of Athora Netherlands of €213 million recognised in 2020.

Its assets under administration of €79 billion (FY 2020: €82 billion) also decreased slightly as a result of rising interest rates with a corresponding reduction in the related insurance provisions.

It said its operating capital generation (OCG) of €272 million (FY 2020: €53 million) reflected the impact of the asset rotation strategy executed in the Netherlands and Belgium and Germany achieving returns above target in 2021. Its total IFRS equity increased to €4.8 billion (FY 2020: €4.3 billion) as a result of the increase in retained earnings and new equity capital issuance.

The company also highlighted its progress against some strategic objectives including an agreement to acquire Amissima Vita in Italy, a transaction with insurer NN Insurance Belgium to acquire a portfolio in Belgium, and the disposal of non-core assets in the Netherlands and Ireland.

Michele Bareggi, group CEO of Athora, said: "I am pleased with the progress we made in 2021 to consolidate our unique position in the European insurance market, as we continued to deliver on our business case. We focused on providing security and attractive returns to our customers during uncertain times, while continuing to meet the expectations of our investors and other stakeholders.

“During the year, we secured €630 million of new equity commitments, bringing total committed equity capital to c.€4.7 billion. This additional capital will be used to support continued growth, investments in our business units, and the overall financial flexibility of the Group. We ended the year with most business units achieving strong increases in solvency capital and a robust group solvency capital position. In addition, our leverage ratio is at our medium-term target and we have achieved credit rating upgrades to A-. Athora is extremely well positioned for the next stage of our journey.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on implementing the key elements of our business model, building on the strong results that we have achieved to date. We want to realise our full potential as a leading European insurer, which means maturing our operations and controls, and driving forward our sustainability initiatives, to ensure we increase value to all our stakeholders.”