RGA posts solid growth driven by its financial solutions business

Life reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America’s full-year results exceeded its expectations, boosted by a particularly strong performance by its financial solutions division.

The company made a net profit of $870 million last year compared with $716 million in 2018. Its net premiums totalled $11.3 billion, increasing 7 percent in 2019 compared with the year before. It said these reflected adverse foreign currency effects of $179 million.

Its EMEA division performed especially well in 2019, with its traditional segment reporting full-year pre-tax income and pre-tax adjusted operating income of $80 million, compared with $55 million in the prior year. Its financial solutions unit in EMEA posted pre-tax income of $223 million, compared with $197 million in the year before.

Its Canada division’s results also stood out: its traditional segment pre-tax income for the full year was $168 million, up from $112 million the year before, and pre-tax adjusted operating income for the full year was $161 million, up from $118 million in the year before. For financial solutions, pre-tax income and pre-tax adjusted operating income totalled $15 million, compared with $10 million in 2018.

Anna Manning, president and chief executive officer, said: “The full-year results were above our expectations. We can point to strong organic growth and active capital deployment as favourable indicators of the strength of our business, and we continue to benefit from the earnings diversity that comes from our global platform.

“The full year featured numerous highlights, including excellent Financial Solutions results across all geographies, strong overall results in EMEA and Canada, a strong rebound in our US Group operations, vibrant top-line growth and in-line adjusted operating income in Asia.

“Looking forward, we remain optimistic about the future and our business prospects, as RGA is well positioned in its markets and we are executing on our proven strategy. We have a long track record of successful execution and strong financial results, and our intermediate-term financial outlook remains unchanged.”