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Investing.com -- Shares of Unipol (BIT:UNPI) (BIT:UNI) edged up 1% despite the company reporting a profit before tax for the fourth quarter that fell short of consensus expectations, mainly due to one-off costs.
The insurer's profit before tax came in at €371 million, below the consensus estimate of €432 million. The shortfall was attributed to additional charges to the Solidarity Fund, costs associated with the Unipol-UnipolSai merger, and the write-down of UnipolRental assets.
The property and casualty (P&C) segment, in particular, posted a profit before tax of €-7 million, missing the consensus of €74 million, likely due to the aforementioned one-off costs. Despite this, the combined ratio for the year 2024 stood at 93.6%, slightly ahead of consensus estimates, with natural catastrophes and large losses accounting for around 7.6 percentage points.
Gross written premiums (GWP) for the quarter were approximately 2% below consensus at €2,687 million but showed a growth of around 6% year-on-year (YoY). Motor GWP grew by about 5% YoY to €1,208 million, while non-motor GWP increased by roughly 6% YoY in the fourth quarter. The life insurance segment performed better, with profit before tax of €100 million surpassing the consensus of €74 million.
The company's solvency ratio was reported at 213%, which is around 2 percentage points below consensus. However, Unipol announced a dividend per share (DPS) of €0.85, which exceeded the consensus estimate of €0.76 and provided a payout ratio of 57% with a dividend yield of 6.2%. This announcement of a higher-than-expected dividend contributed to the positive investor sentiment.
Barclays (LON:BARC) commented on the dividend, stating, "We expect management to provide more details during the conf call on the new dividend policy and full disclosure at the CMD later this year. However, 2024 DPS is in our view establishing the base line for a progressive dividend in the coming years."
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