Ageas Asia Excellent Third Quarter Performance Brings 9M 2016 Gross Inflows up 11% to EUR 14.3 Billion and Net Profit up 70% to EUR 378 million

HONG KONG, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ageas 9M 2016 results (note 1) --Asia Financial Highlights

Ageas Group:

Positive trend confirmed: a strong 3^rd quarter in both Life and Non-Life confirming the solid first half results

• Net Result
  • Insurance net profit up 31% to EUR 803 million versus EUR 613 million
  • General Account net result of EUR 686 million negative versus EUR 14 million negative
  • Group net result EUR 118 million versus EUR 599 million
• Inflows
  • Group inflows (at 100%) EUR 24.7 billion, up 8% (including 4% negative foreign exchange impact)
    Group inflows (Ageas's part) grew 5% to EUR 10.9 billion (including 4% negative foreign exchange impact)
  • Life inflows up 11% to EUR 19.9 billion and Non-Life stable at EUR 4.8 billion (both at 100%)
• Operating Performance
  • Combined ratio 97.0% versus 95.1%
  • Operating Margin Guaranteed 97 bps versus 80 bps
  • Operating Margin Unit-Linked 21 bps versus 37 bps
  • Life Technical Liabilities of the consolidated entities EUR 75.3 billion (+2% compared to the end of 2015)
• Balance Sheet
  • Shareholders' equity at EUR 10.5 billion or EUR 50.55 per share
  • Insurance solvency II ageas ratio 181% and Group solvency II 199 %
  • General Account Total Liquid Assets at EUR 2.0 billion versus EUR 1.6 billion end 2015

Ageas Asia:

Excellent overall third quarter

• Net profit EUR 378 million vs. EUR 222 million (+70%); Solid results driven by strong performance in China and Thailand and supported by the capital gain on the divestment of the Hong Kong Life activities.
• Gross Inflows EUR 14.3 billion vs. EUR 12.8 billion (+11%); Excellent growth in new business and renewal premiums especially in China and Thailand.
  • China's inflows increased to EUR 11.0 billion (+17% and +23% at constant exchange rates), with new business up 20% to EUR 5.3 billion, of which EUR 2.8 billion (+44%) was in regular premium business and in line with the commercial strategy. The bank channel and particularly the strong performance of the agency channel both contributed to this growth. The agency force expanded further to almost 245,000
  • Thailand achieved solid business growth with life inflows up 6% (+11% at constant exchange rates) to EUR 1.9 billion, with strong growth in renewal premiums of 24% (at constant exchange rates) to EUR 1.2 billion following last year's growth in new business volumes and continued customer loyalty. Non-life gross inflows were up 13% at constant exchange rates to EUR 238 million with substantial growth in both Motor (+17%) and Personal Accident (+17%)
  • Life inflows in Malaysia amounted EUR 425 million, an increase of 7% at constant exchange rates. The bank channel's focus on regular premium business resulted in a better product mix with regular premiums up by 45% at constant exchange rates. Renewal business amounted to EUR 215 million, up 18% at constant exchange rates. Non-life inflows amounted to EUR 451 million (+1% at constant exchange rates) with growth across the major business lines
  • India's inflows were EUR 141 million (+4% at constant exchange rates), supported by a 19% growth in regular premiums and higher renewal premiums (+13% at constant exchange rates). Gross inflows from the consolidated operations in Hong Kong amounted to EUR 183 million up until 12 may 2016 when the divestment was completed.
• Strategic development: Start of sales in the Philippines and closing of the divestment of Hong Kong Life entity on 12 May, 2016. License received in Vietnam on July 1^st. Ageas further strengthened its partnership with Maybank through several initiatives in Singapore.

Announcing the 9M 2016 results, Gary Crist, Chief Executive Officer of Ageas Asia commented:

"An excellent 3^rd quarter performance has contributed to strong 9M 2016 Ageas results in Asia.  The net profits of EUR 378 million, an increase of 70% over the same period last year, were driven by continued strong performance mainly in China and Thailand as well as by the capital gain on the divestment of our Hong Kong life activities. Total inflows reached EUR 14.3 billion, an increase of 11%, in which Malaysia and India also performed well in the third quarter. Overall, both new business and renewals achieved healthy growth across all distribution channels with growth recorded at 13% and 11% respectively. In particular, the agency channel's new business premiums grew by 40%. The bancassurance channel remained solid at the same level as last year. Across all channels new regular premium business grew by 32% over the same period prior year. We had a strong start in our new joint-venture in the Philippines. In July, we obtained our insurance license to operate a new life insurance joint-venture in Vietnam. The recent start to life operations in Singapore via our partnership with Maybank has also performed well."

Please visit www.ageas.com for full details of the press release.

^1. All 9M 2016 figures are compared to the 9M 2015 figures unless otherwise stated.