All Posts in "Day: February 23, 2024"

Allianz announces operating profit of €14.7bn in 2023

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Insurance giant, Allianz has reported a record operating profit of €14.7 billion for the full year 2023, an increase of 6.7% from €13.8 billion in the previous year.

Insurance giant Allianz has reported a record operating profit of €14.7 billion for the full year 2023, an increase of 6.7% from €13.8 billion in the previous year, driven primarily by the Life/Health (L&H) business segment.

Total business volume grew 5.5% to €161.7 billion in 2023, which Allianz attributes to its Property and Casualty (P&C) business segment on the back of positive price and volume effects, supported by the performance of its L&H segment driven by growth in the US.

Core net income grew from €7 billion in 2022 to €9.1 billion in 2023, driven by an improved operating profit in the current period, as net income increased 33% year-on-year to €8.5 billion.

By segment, P&C delivered total business volume growth of 8.4% to €76.5 billion, as operating profit rose 1.2% to €6.9 billion for FY23, driven by a higher operating investment result, partly offset by lower other operating and insurance service results.

The P&C combined ratio increased by 0.6 percentage points to 93.8% for full year 2023. The loss ratio jumped 0.9 percentage points to 69.3% mainly due to higher claims from natural catastrophes and less run-off. Allianz notes that this was partially offset by a favourable impact from discounting and an improvement in the expense ratio by 0.3 percentage points to 24.6% driven by the acquisition cost ratio.

In its L&H business, Allianz has reported that the present value of new business premiums grew to €67.3 billion from €66.2 billion in 2022, driven by higher volume in the US and Allianz Re, the firm’s reinsurance arm. L&H operating profit increased by €1 billion year-on-year to €5.2 billion, while the contractual service margin increased from €52.2 billion to €52.6 billion.

The new business margin remained stable at 5.9%, while the value of new business jumped to €4 billion in 2023 from €3.9 billion in 2022.

In its asset management business, Allianz has reported operating revenues softened 1.8% to €8.1 billion in 2023, with higher performance fees offset by lower AuM-driven revenues. Operating profit in the business totalled €3.1 billion in 2023, down €100 million year-on-year.

Third-party assets under management were €1.712 trillion for 2023, up €77 billion year-on-year, as total assets under management were €2.224 trillion, up €82 billion on 2022.

For 2024, the re/insurer has targeted an operating profit of €14.8 billion, plus or minus €1 billion.

Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer, Allianz, commented, “Allianz extended our track record of delivering a record operating profit and core net income, consolidating our leading position as one of the world’s most resilient global insurers and active asset managers.

“Our results demonstrate the trust that our customers place in Allianz, and in the resilience and potential of our business model and our people. Our Property-Casualty business saw strong growth while we supported our customers affected by elevated levels of natural catastrophes. Our Life/Health segment delivered profitable growth as we developed attractive solutions to protect our customers from the effects of inflation on their savings, and in our Asset Management business, we achieved robust net inflows in a volatile capital market environment.

“The discipline of our strategy, execution, and capital management bolsters our operating profit outlook for 2024, our new dividend policy, and our renewed share buy-back program. In the coming year, we will continue to focus on unlocking the benefits of our scale to further increase our productivity, and on converting our excellent customer experience into profitable customer growth.”

Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre, Chief Financial Officer, Allianz, said: “We’ve achieved another year of record results and all operating segments finished the year above or close to their operating profit target mid-points.

“In our Property-Casualty business we recorded strong revenue growth, driven by healthy pricing and higher volumes. Growth was spread across our entities, reflecting the strength of our diversified global franchise. Our focus on technical excellence helped us to successfully mitigate the impact of inflation on our operating profit, which faced an above-average level of natural catastrophes. Our investment result benefited from higher interest rates.

“The operating profit in our Life/Health segment exceeded our outlook mid-point and was also well above the prior year. Our value creation is supported by a healthy new business margin that we maintained by providing attractive solutions to our clients, allowing us to record a solid new business development.

“In Asset Management, our operating profit was above our outlook mid-point, and we achieved positive net inflows in a volatile market environment. A competitive cost-income ratio and an increase in our third-party assets under management bode well for future profitability.

“We will continue to focus on generating attractive and sustainable returns for all of our stakeholders while not compromising on our resilience. We enter 2024 with confidence and target a full-year operating profit of 14.8 billion euros, plus or minus 1 billion euros.”

Patoma Admin by — February 23, 2024 in Insurance 0
Otedola, Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu amongst Forbes Africa 20 billionaires

By Favour Nnabugwu
Four Nigerians made the list of Forbes Africa’s 20 billionaires worth a combined $82.4 billion.
The four billionaires are Femi Otedola Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and AbdulSamad Rabiu
In this Forbes Africa Billionaires list,  South Africa claims six spots on the ranking, followed by Egypt with five and Nigeria with four. Algeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe each have one billionaire on the list, while Morocco has two.
The fortunes of Africa’s wealthiest people have rebounded slightly in the past 12 months, reversing the decline in their fortunes from a year ago, though they are still off their all-time highs.
The 20 billionaires on the 2024 Forbes list of Africa’s Richest are worth a combined $82.4 billion. That’s up $900 million from last year’s $81.5 billion.
All of that gain can be attributed to the return of Nigeria’s Femi Otedola, who last appeared on the Forbes Africa list in 2017 when he held a controlling stake in fuel distributor Forte Oil. Otedola phased out his oil investments during a government push to privatize the country’s energy business in 2013, using a Forte subsidiary to purchase Geregu, a public power generation plant
 He owned about 90% of Geregu when it was listed on the Nigerian exchange’s Main Board in 2022, but has since sold shares to institutional investors, which include Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa and the State Grid Corporation of China. His 73% stake in Geregu is worth more than $850 million, about three-quarters of his $1.1 billion fortune, which puts him at No. 19 on the list.
After taking Otedola’s comeback into account, Africa’s billionaires dipped slightly, but still fared better than the decline of 4% last year, when African markets faded in sync with equity values around the world. This year, African equities joined a late-year global rally, with the S&P All Africa index rising 10% in the final two months of 2023 but still ended down more than 9% in the 12 months through January 8, 2024.
The continent remains one of the world’s toughest places to build and hold onto – a billion-dollar fortune, as global investors remain leery of its stock exchanges, businesses struggle against strained economies, poor infrastructure and volatile exchange rates, while changing political winds can make, boost or bust private fortunes.
That environment favors entrenched family fortunes or those with close ties to government that continue to dominate the ranks of Africa’s richest. Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, whose fortune rose $400 million to $13.9 billion, claimed the ranking’s No. 1 spot for the 13th year in a row, despite the political uncertainty following the February presidential election and a devaluation of the naira in 2023 that offset the rising share price of Dangote Cement.
Adenuga, Nigeria’s second richest man, built his fortune in telecom and oil production.
With a net worth of $6.9 billion; Rank in 2023: 6; Net worth in 2023: $5.6 billion
Self-made Origin of wealth: Telecom and oil; Industry: Diversified; Age: 70
Country: Nigeria; Residence: Lagos
His mobile phone network, Globacom, is the second- largest operator in Nigeria, with 60 million subscribers.
His oil exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta.
Globacom also built Glo-1, a 6,100-mile-long submarine Internet cable to the U.K. via Ghana and Portugal.
Adenuga also owns 74% of publicly traded gasoline firm Conoil and just under 6% of publicly traded Nigerian bank Sterling Financial Holding.
Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate.
He has a net worth of $5.9 billion; Rank in 2023: 4; Net worth in 2023: $7.6 billion Inherited and growing; Origin of wealth: Cement and Sugar; Industry: Diversified
Age: 63; Country: Nigeria; Residence: Lagos
In early January 2020, Rabiu merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.2% of it. He also owns 95% of publicly traded food conglomerate BUA Foods.
Rabiu, the son of a businessman, inherited land from his father. He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals.
South African luxury goods magnate Johann Rupert held onto the No. 2 spot with $10.1 billion, down from $10.7 billion in 2023 as shares of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont – maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens – slid. South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranks No. 3, with $9.4 billion, up $1 billion from 2023. Thirteen of the billionaires added to their fortunes this year, while seven saw their net worth decline.
South Africa’s Christoffel Wiese, who rejoined the ranking last year at No. 18 with $1.1 billion after rebounding from an accounting scandal, holds onto his No. 18 rank with a $1.2 billion net worth, thanks to rising shares of his largest holding, Shoprite, and the spinoff of food business Premiere Group from Brait PLC. Wiese also cashed out on $50 million worth of Shoprite stock in October, reducing his stake in the supermarket chain.
The biggest decline on this year’s list belongs to Algerian industrial magnate Issad Rebrab, who was barred by a court in May from exercising any commercial or management duties at his conglomerate Cevital. Rebrab, who denied any wrongdoing, had previously served eight months in jail on corruption charges until his release in January 2020. Rebrab, who shares the wealth with his wife and five children – including his son, Malik, who took over as CEO in 2022 – saw his net worth fall by almost half to $2.5 billion.
The biggest gain belongs to Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris, who added $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion thanks to a rise in Adidas shares (he owns about 6%), as well as dividends from the German sneaker company and family conglomerate OCI.
Patoma Admin by — February 23, 2024 in Business 0
NiMet, Sahel Consulting sign MOU to promote resilient agricultural system in Nigeria

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sahel Consulting to build sustainable climate monitoring and address early warnings system bottlenecks for resilient agricultural systems in Nigeria.

During the signing of the MoU yesterday, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike stressed the importance of early warnings as a measure to protect citizens.

“The importance of Early Warnings System cannot be over emphasized and we are willing to partner with any organization that is capable of investing in preparedness. This will help protect our population who should and must be protected by early warnings of climate disaster”, he said.

The Climate Early Warnings project is to be executed by Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited, in collaboration with a consortium of implementing partners including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and NiMet.

The project will include the provision of six Meteorological Automatic weather Observation Systems (AWOS) in Nigeria and setting up of a Mapping Room. It will also include capacity development for staff of NiMet and other government ministries, departments and agencies in Nigeria.

The implementation team includes members from International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) of Columbia University, New York, USA among others.

Yemi Adegoroye signed the MoU on behalf of Sahel Consulting and the consortium, while Professor Charles Anosike signed on behalf of NiMet.

Patoma Admin by — February 23, 2024 in Aviation 0