The shareholders' meeting of Generali gave the green light with approximately 90% of the capital present at budget 2022 and with 99,69% al dividend from 1,16 euros per share (+8,4%) which will guarantee shareholders a yield of more than 6%. The appointments of the new board of statutory auditors which it will have as chairman have also been approved Charles Schiavone, appointed from the list presented by the Caltagirone group. The other two members, cast by Assogestioni, will be Paolo Ratti and Sara Landini.
The numbers of the General meeting
At the Generali annual meeting it was 63,2% of the share capital is present. The session was held remotely. In terms of shareholding, the holdings of the main shareholders with stakes exceeding 3% remain unchanged compared to the last few months. In the assembly, Mediobanca is the leading shareholder with 13,11%, followed by Dolphin with 9,77%, the group Caltagirone with 6,23% ei Benetton with 4,83%. A structure very similar to that of the 2022 assembly if not for the share of Caltagirone, which as known had been reduced.
Chairman Sironi: “Brilliant results for Generali”
Generals got “brilliant” results which “confirm the very positive progress of the 'Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth' Strategic Plan and the ability to create value for all its stakeholders. Therefore, not only for shareholders and bondholders, but also for customers, employees, commercial partners and the communities in which we operate”, said the chairman Andrea Sironi, opening the assembly of the insurance group.
Sironi also expressed “great satisfaction with the completion of a governance which consolidates Generali's reputation as a bearer of best practices at the European and international level, and which operates through a high-quality board".
“2022, a year that should have marked a decisive economic recovery in all the major economies, instead confronted us with a decrease in growth and new uncertainties for the future. We entered a unprecedented historical moment, due to the global reach of the crises that are taking place: climate crisis, energy crisis, geopolitical crisis and, in relation to Italy and other European countries, also the demographic crisis", explained Sironi, underlining that "To respond to this scenario, within of which we operate as insurers and global investors, the board today has significant and differentiated skills in the main strategic areas for the Group's activities".
CEO Donnet: "Well positioned on the floor, we are European leaders: a pride for Italy"
"All in all, I think you can be very satisfied of how these first twelve months of execution of the plan have gone, which puts us in a very good position to successfully achieve all targets of our strategy, which were announced to the financial community in December 2022. Once again we managed to achieve a record operating result, mainly driven by the Life segment and by the growth of the P&C business”, said the CEO of Generali, Philippe Donnet, speaking at the budget meeting, "the tenth in which I have the pleasure of participating", he specified.
“2022 represented another year of great complexity for the world, but very positive for our society. We have confirmed our European leadership, and this must be a source of great pride for all of Italy, because the strong international presence of companies like ours contributes to making the whole country stronger", added the CEO, underlining that "in a historic moment in which which Europe is called to play an essential leadership role for international balances and to protect the well-being of its citizens in the long term, we are convinced that Italy can and must play an absolute leading role also at a political level”.
"Strengthened by what we have been able to achieve in the last twelve months, and more generally in all of these last few years, we are therefore ready to face once again with confidence all the challenges that await us from now on", concluded Donnet, after having recalled the main numbers of Leone's 2022 financial statements, the coupon proposed to the shareholders' meeting in line with the plan that provides for "solid and constantly growing" dividends, the latest extraordinary operations, "where we have recorded significant progress with regard to the acquisition strategy", and the strong commitment on the sustainability front, "which guides all of the group's activity".
In detail, the managing director underlined that “the quality of the results” obtained “allows us to offer you a dividend up 8,4% compared to last year. It is a value in line with the goal of distributing between 5,2 and 5,6 billion euros of cumulative dividends from 2022 to 2024 and confirms the desire to guarantee single and constantly growing dividends”.
On the front of'BUT, the manager said that "over the past year we have made significant progress on acquisitions, with strengthening in Europe and in specific Asian countries." The CEO recalled the deals with Cattolica in Italy, La Medicale in France, Grupo CTT in Portugal. “In India and Malaysia we have become majority shareholders in the JVs where we were already involved,” he underlined.
With 2022, the CEO underlined, our new three-year strategic plan 'Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth' has kicked off. “A very ambitious plan, through which we will confirm Generali as a European leader and as an increasingly integrated insurer and asset manager, a pioneer in sustainability and capable of creating value for all stakeholders. Among the priorities of the plan there are also the acceleration of digital transformation of the group and the further integration of sustainability into the business and precisely to facilitate the achievement of these and all the other objectives that we have set ourselves, last June we announced a new organizational structure based on the valorisation of our internal talents", he specified .
Furthermore, “in order to best respond to the current market context, we have successfully implemented a program to combat inflation. For what concern damage branch, we focused on raising fees and further sophistication of technical portfolio management and claims settlement. Secondly, we have implemented cost reduction and productivity improvement measures. This program also demonstrates the group's great ability to react quickly and decisively to rapidly changing external scenarios”.
The Cfo Borean: in 2022 best operating result ever and growing bonuses
“In a context characterized by exceptional geopolitical and economic challenges, Generali achieved a very positive performance in 2022 with the best operating result ever; premiums in further growth, with a forte increase in Damages; growing cash generation and an extremely solid capital position; and a dividend proposal confirming the Group's focus on shareholder remuneration,” said the Group Cfo, Cristiano Borean, speaking in the introductory part of the shareholders' meeting. “These results summarize the first year of the 'Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth' strategy focused on sustainable growth, further improving earnings quality and creating value for all stakeholders, and confirm its excellent start,” said added.
Generali: green light for remuneration policy
In addition to the balance sheet, dividend and appointments of the new board of statutory auditors, the Generali shareholders' meeting approved the report on remuneration policy and on fees paid, but with a smaller majority compared to the other items on the agenda. In particular, the first point, which concerned the approval of the first section of the Report on the remuneration policy and remuneration paid, received 69,9% of the votes in favour, out of a capital present of 63,2%, against the 13,3% and 15,7% abstained. The second item on the agenda – Resolution on the second section of the Report on the policy on remuneration and fees paid – was approved by 69,7% of the capital present; 16,3% against and 15,7% abstained.
Finally, with 89,3% of the votes in favour, the appointment of Stefano Marsaglia, co-opted to the board of directors in July after the resignation of Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, was approved. The long-term incentive plan for employees and the related purchase of treasury shares received the go-ahead from 89,38% of the capital present.
