MAPFRE Malta announces total Group profit before tax for the year amounted to €20.39 million as compared to €21.19 million during the previous year with after tax profits at €12.92 million compared to €14.29 million in 2020.
MAPFRE Middlesea p.l.c., as a standalone Company, registered a turnover of €80.11 million in gross premium written, a 6.6% increase over FY 2020 registering a marginal increase in its market leadership share. As the economy rebounded back from the retraction in 2020 premium likewise returned to a satisfactory level of growth, though still lower than pre-pandemic levels particularly in Travel and Motor. Technical results deteriorated compared to FY 2020 as claim frequency in Motor and Health returned to pre-pandemic levels as mobility returned to normality. Large losses also had a more significant impact on results following a year with few high severity claims.
Dividends from Group companies were limited to those received from the associate company Middlesea Assist Ltd. MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. did not distribute any dividend to strengthen further its Solvency Ratio. This is reflected on the profit of the Company and the dividend that can be paid by the Company.
The Company registered a profit before tax for FY 2021 amounting to €4.06 million, compared to a profit of €6.39 million in FY 2020. Profit after tax dropped from €4.12 million in FY 2020 to €2.61 million in FY 2021.
The Company maintained a strong balance sheet, with its Shareholders’ equity amounting to €76.41 million still maintaining a strong regulatory solvency position as at 31 December 2021 under the Solvency II regime.
The Group’s results include the consolidated MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. (“MMSV”) profit before tax of €16.69 million (2020: €15.04 million). MMSV reported gross written premiums of €325.14 million compared to €269.58 million in 2020 driven by the economic recovery, the high levels of liquidity in the local economy and the low interest rates characterizing the market with single premium and regular premium business benefitting from such environment. MAPFRE MSV’s With Profit Fund returned a gross return of 4.20% compared to the 2.75% generated in 2020 on favourable economic, financial market and policy conditions. Investment income closed with a return of €97.58 million compared to €62.71 million in 2020. The MMSV profit after tax consolidated for FY 2021 amounted to €10.56 million (2020: € €10.33 million).
Total Group capital and reserves attributable to shareholders (excluding non-controlling interests) as at 31 December 2021 was €111.04 million, as a result of the profit for the year and the increase in the value of-in-force business with no dividend being paid by MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c.
A final gross dividend in respect of year ended 31 December 2021 of €0.030401 per share amounting to a total dividend of €2,796,910 (2020: €4,823,996) is to be proposed by the directors at the forthcoming annual general meeting. This is equivalent to a net dividend of €0.0260870 per share amounting to a total net dividend of €2,400,000 (2020: €3,200,000).
The outlook of the Board of Directors for 2022 remains one of cautious optimism. The global economic recovery experienced in 2021 should be sustained into 2022 though the growth rate will not benefit from the low base effect of 2020. High liquidity and a still supportive fiscal and easy monetary policy should continue to underpin growth. However, down side risks persist in the form of structural inflationary pressures, supply side bottlenecks, new COVID-19 variants and geopolitical risk particularly the Ukraine conflict. The insurance market has not been effected as negatively as other sectors of the economy although the pinch felt by the rest of the economy is having its side effects on our sector both in the sale of certain products and through inflationary pressures on claims. Within this context, demand for general business is expected to grow at a lower rate than that experienced in the last pre-pandemic years and in the context of Malta’s high savings ratio, the demand for the protection, savings and investments products in life is expected to remain strong.
CEO Javier Moreno remarked “ 2022 sees the start of a new Strategic cycle for the Group with the three main pillars being Customer Focus, Distribution and Diversification and Gaining Efficiency, goals that will underpin our strategies for the coming three years.”
MAPFRE Malta refers to MAPFRE Middlesea p.l.c. (C-5553) and MAPFRE MSV Life p.l.c. (C-15722). Both entities are authorised under the Insurance Business Act and are regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority.
