NN Group beats forecasts, stays cautious on Dutch pension buyouts (updated)

NN

06/08/2026 06:32

H1 operating capital at €1.07 billion
Interim dividend grows 12% to €1.55
Results boosted by Europe business, one-off in the Netherlands
Shares up around 2%, hit all-time high
Adds CEO interview comments in paragraphs 7, 8, 10-11; details in paragraph 9; adds graphs throughout
By Mateusz Rabiega
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Dutch insurer and asset manager NN Group NN.AS beat expectations for first-half operating capital on Thursday, but said returns in the Dutch pension buyout market remained too low to meet its return targets.
The group generated operating capital of 1.07 billion euros ($1.24 billion), above the 1.01 billion euros expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus. Its shares rose around 2%, lifting the company's market capitalisation to a record 21.7 billion euros.
NN also raised its interim dividend by 12% to 1.55 euros per share, while its Solvency II ratio, a key measure of capital strength, improved to 224%.
Insurance Europe, NN's second-largest earnings division, was the main driver of growth in new business value, helped by strong performance in Poland, Greece and Slovakia.
"This more than offset lower value of new business from Japan, where demand shifted towards shorter-duration products, moderating sales growth," Chief Executive David Knibbe said in a statement.
In an interview with Reuters, Knibbe said NN was seeing renewed demand for shorter-duration insurance products in Japan but remained committed to expanding its presence there, after regulatory changes reshaped the market halving the insurer's sales.
"Now that makes it a bit harder to get there ... but if the market moves back to long-term products, then we're well on track," he said, referring to NN's ambition to regain a top-three position in Japan.
The insurer is also assessing opportunities created by the Netherlands' pension overhaul, which is prompting pension funds to transfer liabilities to insurers through so-called pension buyouts.
Knibbe said NN remained cautious about the market, arguing that returns currently on offer did not meet the company's investment criteria.
"We said we want to make at least double-digit returns. What we see in the current quotes is below 10%," he said. "This is for us the most unattractive way to deploy capital."
 
($1 = 0.8660 euros)

 (Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Matt Scuffham)
 ((mateusz.rabiega@thomsonreuters.com))