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Introduction & Market Context
Alm. Brand A/S (CPH:ALMB) delivered strong financial results for the second quarter of 2025, as revealed in its quarterly presentation on July 16, 2025. The Danish non-life insurer, which holds approximately 15% market share in Denmark, saw its stock price increase slightly by 0.27% to 18.25 DKK following the announcement, continuing its impressive year-to-date performance of 35.2% growth.
The company’s results were characterized by robust organic growth, improved claims experience, and effective cost control measures, allowing management to raise full-year guidance across multiple metrics.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Alm. Brand reported significant improvements in its core financial metrics for Q2 2025, with insurance revenue increasing by 8.3% to DKK 2.95 billion compared to Q2 2024. The insurance service result grew substantially to DKK 520 million, driven by strong premium growth, effective cost control, and a lower underlying claims experience.
As shown in the following financial highlights table:
The investment result was highly satisfactory at DKK 102 million, primarily supported by the performance of bond and share portfolios. Other income and expenses improved to DKK -26 million compared to DKK -50 million in Q2 2024, reflecting better returns from the remaining mortgage deed and debt collection portfolio.
Major claims remained below the normal level during the quarter, contributing to the improved performance. The following chart illustrates the trend in major claims:
Segment Performance
Personal Lines showed particularly strong performance in Q2 2025, with premium growth accelerating to 11%, driven by premium adjustments and partnership momentum. The segment’s insurance service result reached DKK 286 million, up from DKK 276 million in Q2 2024. The expense ratio improved to 17.0% from 18.8% a year earlier, while the claims ratio decreased significantly from 80.2% to 64.6%.
Commercial Lines also demonstrated solid improvement, with premium growth increasing to 5.3% compared to 2.1% in Q1 2025. The insurance service result for Commercial Lines reached DKK 234 million, a substantial increase from DKK 36 million in Q2 2024. The claims ratio improved by 13.3 percentage points, driven mainly by a decline in the undiscounted underlying claims ratio of approximately 7.5 percentage points.
The following chart illustrates the quarterly progression of the insurance service result by segment:
The growth in insurance revenue across both segments is clearly demonstrated in this trend chart:
Claims Experience & Profitability
A key driver of Alm. Brand’s improved performance was the significant enhancement in claims experience. The claims ratio improved by 4.9 percentage points compared to Q2 2024, with major claims at 5.3% of premiums compared to 8.8% in the same period last year.
The underlying claims ratio improved to 60.0% from 64.2%, while the undiscounted underlying claims ratio showed even greater improvement, declining to 62.2% from 67.4%. This improvement reflects the success of the company’s profitability initiatives and synergy gains, as well as a more favorable stochastic outcome than in Q2 last year.
The following table breaks down the development in the underlying claims ratio:
Synergy Progress
Alm. Brand continues to make significant progress in realizing synergies from the Codan integration. In Q2 2025, the company realized synergies of DKK 151 million, bringing the total for 2025 to DKK 296 million. The company remains confident in achieving its full-year target of DKK 600 million in synergies.
As shown in the following table, synergy realization is progressing across administration, claims processing, and IT & infrastructure:
During the earnings call, CEO Rasmus Werner Nielsen expressed satisfaction with the synergy progress, stating, "Synergies are materializing just as we plan." CFO Andreas reinforced this confidence, saying, "We remain confident that the synergy for the full year will add up to DKK 600 million."
Investment Performance
Alm. Brand’s investment portfolio delivered a highly satisfactory result of DKK 102 million in Q2 2025. The investment return was particularly supported by the performance of bond and share portfolios, with shares generating a 6.7% return and bonds delivering a 0.8% return.
The following table provides a detailed breakdown of the investment return by asset class:
Guidance & Outlook
Based on the strong performance in the first half of 2025, Alm. Brand has raised its full-year guidance. The insurance service result excluding run-offs is now expected to be between DKK 1.6-1.8 billion, an increase of DKK 50 million from previous guidance. The investment result guidance has been lifted by DKK 50 million to DKK 250 million, and profit before special costs and tax is now expected to be between DKK 1.73-1.93 billion, an increase of DKK 100 million.
The combined ratio guidance for 2025 is set at 84.5-86.5, with an expense ratio target of 17%. The company expects to realize the full DKK 600 million in synergies from the Codan integration by the end of 2025.
The updated guidance for 2025 is summarized in the following slide:
Looking further ahead, Alm. Brand announced it will host a capital markets day on November 18, 2025, where it will launch its strategy and financial targets for the upcoming 2026-2028 period.
Capital Position & Shareholder Returns
Alm. Brand maintains a strong capital position, with a Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) ratio of 194%. This robust capital base supports the company’s dividend policy, which prescribes a pay-out ratio of at least 80%. The company emphasizes its commitment to efficient capital allocation, with excess capital distributed as dividends or used for share buybacks.
The following table details the company’s capital structure and solvency position:
Market Position
Alm. Brand continues to maintain a strong position in the Danish insurance market, with a market share of approximately 23.8% as of Q2 2024, making it one of the largest insurers in Denmark. The company’s investor base is primarily concentrated in Denmark (61.0%) and Europe (25.1%), with growing interest from North American investors (8.2%).
The company’s ambitions include profitable organic growth and realizing scale economies, supported by manageable integration risk and stable capital requirements. With its strong market position and clear strategic focus, Alm. Brand appears well-positioned to continue delivering value to shareholders in the coming years.
Full presentation:
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