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Investing.com -- Ageas (EBR:AGES) lifted its annual core profit forecast to as much as €1.35 billion ($1.58 billion) after a strong first half, helped by mild weather conditions in Europe and a lower tax burden in China.
Core profit for the first six months reached €734 million, more than 10% ahead of market expectations, while return on equity stood at 18.6%.
Cash upstream for 2025 is projected at €940 million, a 17% increase from last year. The group had previously targeted €1.3 billion in net operating profit for 2025. Inflows rose 4% at constant exchange rates to €10.5 billion in the period.
Shares edged up 0.2% in Brussels trade.
Belgium, the company’s second-largest market, saw no major weather disruptions, while Asia delivered a 30% rise in core profit thanks to the reduced tax rate in China, offsetting concerns about slower growth from lower interest rates.
“Our diverse portfolio of Life and Non-Life products continues to attract customers across our various markets," said Hans De Cuyper, CEO of Ageas.
"We delivered a robust commercial performance in Life, with growth in Belgium exceeding 10%, and accomplished a successful product mix transition in China. We also achieved solid growth in most Non-Life markets. In Europe, however, sales were influenced by our focus on profitability over volume.”
The contractual service margin slipped to €6.8 billion from €7.2 billion at the end of 2024, reflecting weaker new business contribution in China due to a product-mix shift.
Looking further ahead, Ageas raised its medium-term targets, aiming to generate more than €2.3 billion in free cash flow by 2027 and return over €2 billion to shareholders in that period.