Results exceeded analysts’ forecasts and positive reception on the Milan Stock Exchange for Generaltoday the protagonist on Piazza Affari after the announcement of the results as of 30 September 2024. The stock gained 5% at the opening. Net profit grows to 3 billion (+5.0%), and operating profit to 5.4 billion (+7.9%), mainly driven by the segments Life And Asset & Wealth Managementwhile gross premiums increased significantly to 70.7 billion (+18.1%), driven by both segments Life (+23.3%) e Damage (+9.8%). Finally, with the payment of the 2023 dividend made on May 22, the group achieved this latter target with total dividends of 5.5 billion in the period 2022-2024.
Strong growth
In the third quarter of 2024 “the strong growth in operating profit continues Generalthanks to the contribution of all business segments”, with the Life segment which “confirmed the very positive trend of net collection in 2024”, underlines Christiano BoreanGroup CFO of General.
Forecasts
The Group confirms its commitment to pursuing “sustainable growth, improving the earnings profile and driving innovation”. This is to achieve a compound annual growth rate of earnings per share of between 6% and 8% in the period 2021-2024, generate net free cash flows at the parent company level in excess of 8.5 billion in the period 2022- 2024 and distribute cumulative dividends to shareholders in the period 2022-2024 for an amount between 5.2 and 5.6 billion.
Analysts are positive, with Equita Sim which confirms the recommendation hold and the target price of 23.5 euros on the Company’s shares. “Results for the nine months were better than expected both at an operational and net result level”, summarize the SIM’s experts, while “In terms of operating profit, all divisions reported a better result than expected, especially Non-Life” . Still buy recommendation on the stock (buy) for Quote with a target price of 28.7 euros after third quarter results defined as “encouraging” and which focus particular attention on Damage. Furthermore, the group’s operating result in the quarter was “17% above estimates”, they conclude Quote.
