Generali Earnings: Operating Profit in Line With Consensus, but Bottom Line Is Better

In property and casualty Generali has written 10.9% more gross premiums in first-quarter 2024 than it did in the same quarter last year. A large part of that growth has been caused by hyperinflation in Argentina and we think excluding that country, the company grew premiums by solid midsingle digits. Motor growth has been driven by Central and Eastern Europe, Italy, Asia, and Austria. The combined ratio has deteriorated slightly over the last year by 30 basis points to 91.0%. However, the current year's undiscounted loss ratio excluding natural catastrophes still stands at 65.9%. The impact of natural catastrophes has risen to 0.4% and the favorable impact of discounting has fallen. These are broadly better than company-compiled consensus estimates.