ASR Nederland plans $131 million buyback as Aegon business boosts core profit (updated)

ASR Nederland NV

19/02/2025 06:48

(Adds dividend, CEO statement, details in paragraphs 2, 4-7)
       Feb 19 (Reuters) - ASR Nederland  ASRNL.AS  plans to
initiate a share buyback of 125 million euros ($131 million),
the Netherlands' second-biggest insurer said on Wednesday, after
its annual operating profit jumped nearly 47% on the year.
    The buyback will start on February 20 and is expected to be
completed by May 20. ASR also proposed a total dividend of 654
million euros, or 3.12 euros per share, for 2024.    
    ASR reported operating earnings of 1.43 billion euros in
2024, supported by strong performance across all segments, with
a significant contribution from its Aegon Nederland business.
    "An important part in this is that we are successful in
integrating Aegon Nederland's activities. We are well on track
to achieve the overall targeted run-rate cost synergies of 215
million euros by mid-2026," Chairman of the Executive Board and
CEO Jos Baeten said.
    ASR bought peer Aegon's  AEGN.AS  Dutch business in 2022 in
a 4.9 billion euro deal, becoming the second-largest insurer in
the Netherlands.
        The group's Solvency II ratio, a measure of insurers'
capital strength under the EU risk-measurement rules, was 198%
last year, compared with 176% at end of 2023, exceeding the
average forecast of analysts polled by the company.
        Gross-written premiums in its non-life insurance
business grew 12.1% to 3.97 billion euros.
        
  
    ($1 = 0.9564 euros)

 (Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster in Gdansk;
Editing by Tom Hogue and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Mateusz.Rabiega@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 57;))