Profits before taxes and minority interests reached a new first-half high for MAPFRE, increasing by 8.7 percent to €942 million, having risen by 45 percent since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007.
During the first six months of the year, business was robust, resulting in the company registering an excellent combined ratio. Moreover, equity grew by nearly €820 million in the period to €10.71 billion, due in part to falling spreads in Spain. Likewise, unrealised capital gains recognised directly in equity have shown a rise of over €1.55 billion since the previous year-end.
Non-Life premiums in the first half totalled €8.62 billion, (down 0.5 percent), but the second quarter saw a year-on-year increase, (up 1.4 percent).
“These results show that the international business continues growing, and MAPFRE is noticing signs of economic recovery in Spain. Moreover, the excellent 95.7 percent combined ratio reflects outstanding operational management”, stated Antonio Huertas, MAPFRE’s Chairman and CEO.
Shareholders’ equity stood at €8.48 billion, an 8.3 percent rise since year-end 2013, and total managed assets were €72.33 billion, an increase of 7.2 percent over the last twelve months.
Furthermore, the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency in May raised the counterparty credit ratings of MAPFRE RE and MAPFRE GLOBAL RISKS to “A”, and those of the Group’s parent company to “BBB+”, all of them with outlook stable. These upward revisions come on the back of those issued by this and other ratings agencies during the six first months of the year, which reaffirms the financial strength of MAPFRE and its subsidiary companies.
