Half Year 2021 Assicurazioni Generali SpA Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : And lots of really easy questions. The first one is, I think you mentioned in an interview on Bloomberg EUR 800 million to EUR 900 million kind of budget left to the deals. And I just wondered, is this after Cattolica? Before Cattolica? I mean how is that. The second is on cash. Can you remind us what the figure of cash on the holding was at the year-end and maybe you tell us what it is now and what you expected to -- where you expect it to go? And then on -- the final question, you're probably going to say this is completely out of line. But is it right, you said at the Investor Day, so as you said almost 3 years ago, that there might be possibility or you judge against buybacks, et cetera. But is it fair to assume that if you do a buyback, you effectively changed the structure of your shareholders because some will accept the buyback, some will not. And so those who do not take the buyback effectively become more concentrated and gain a bigger voice. In that way, you would lose your independence?

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Yes, Sorry. Is this better? Is the line better, yes?

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Sorry about that. Yes. So it was a very cheeky question, asking if the decision or the kind of trend we've seen to do more deals than buybacks. Is there a thinking behind it that if you do a buyback, you would change the structure of your shareholders to the extent that some would accept a buyback, some would not. And therefore, those who do not accept the buyback would gain a bigger say in the company. And in that way, you would kind of, in a creeping way, lose your independence. Creeping, not in a negative way, what I mean is kind of in a diluted way. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 03, 2021 / 10:00AM, GASI.MI - Half Year 2021 Assicurazioni Generali SpA Earnings Call

Question: Steven Haywood - HSBC, Research Division - Analyst : Obviously, I've seen that you've taken the expected October dividend payment out of shareholders' equity as obviously it's been approved by the shareholders. Does this show or does this imply that you are extremely confident in paying this in the fourth quarter of this year? Second question for me is on the Solvency II ratio. Just looking at the roll forward in the first half, there's a negative 3 percentage points noneconomic variance. Could you provide some color around this? Sorry if I missed it in the disclosure. And then thirdly from me, on the P&C top line premium growth, you say it's up about 9% in the second quarter. Can you go into more detail about what lines, what countries, what Cattolica has an impact, the rebound from COVID and any impacts on pricing as well? That would be very helpful.

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : On private equity, and I'm sorry to go on about it. The -- you said EUR 7 billion. Can you say where it is? Is it -- I look at the equity pie chart and I just wondered which of the buckets it's included in. And then maybe you can give an indication of how much more of this bucket will grow? And then the other point related to that, so compared to consensus, and I know these are not your numbers. But still, the consolidation line was bigger than reported. And I'm just wondering if that effectively, what we're seeing is the offset to the private equity dividends? And then my final question is,

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : And you said EUR 7 billion. How much can this grow to?

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : And on Cattolica?

Question: Michael Igor Huttner - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Can you clarify that?

Question: Steven Haywood - HSBC, Research Division - Analyst : On your Life new business margins, particularly in the protection and the unit-linked businesses, they are developing very well. And do you see any further room for new business margins to increase in the protection and unit-linked businesses? And I suppose the overall group's Life new business margin should continue to increase going forward as your savings products reducing the proportion of the total new business sales. So in general, the direction of new business margin is positive over the next few years. And the second question, I saw a comment about the slate of candidates for the Board renewal in 2022. Can you give any -- I just wanted to make sure this is part of the normal process. And if there's any other comments you can give on this, that would be great.