The ratings reflect Generali's very strong capitalisation and low leverage, robust performance, and its very strong company profile, which mitigate its sovereign investment concentration risk.
As Fitch noted in the report, Generali is the third-largest European insurance group by premiums and has a leading position in major western European countries and a large presence in central and eastern Europe and Asia. The group's business profile benefits from its large size and broad diversification across geographies, products, client groups and distribution channels.
According to the agency, Generali's capitalisation is 'Very Strong', as measured by a Solvency II ratio of 212% at end-1H25 (end-2024: 210%). Its Prism score fell to 'Strong' at end-2024, although by a small margin, based on IFRS 17 accounts. The drop was due mainly to a rise in target capital resulting from a general increase of the weight of non-life business, after the acquisition of Liberty Seguros, and a rise in life assets and reserves. Fitch expects Generali to maintain its capital strength over the medium term, and the Prism score to recover to 'Very Strong' at end-2025.
Generali reported a higher operating result, calculated under IFRS 17, of EUR 4 billion in 1H25 (1H24: EUR 3.7 billion), supported by better performance across all businesses, except for wealth management. In non-life, the reported combined ratio reached 91% (1H24: 92.4%) as a better attritional loss ratio more than compensated for a smaller discounting effect. The rating agency expects the company to maintain a very strong operating performance.
The insurer's operating profit improved to EUR 7.3 billion in 2024 (2023: EUR 6.7 billion), with a very strong performance in non-life. The Fitch-calculated combined ratio also improved to 92% in 2024, from 92.8% a year before. This was due to volume growth and a better attritional loss ratio, and despite a lower benefit from discounting. Generali's Fitch-calculated return on equity (ROE) was 12.5% in 2024 (2023: 12.9 %), which is very strong. Fitch expects a similar ROE in 2025, the report says.
10303 views
