Waiting for a super coupon of Generali has been rewarded. The board of directors of the Leone, led by Mario Greco, will propose to the shareholders' meeting the destruction of a dividend of €0,60 per share, with an increase of 33% compared to that (0,45 euro per share) of the previous year. The payout thus rises from 36,6% to 55,9% and the dividend exceeds the forecasts of financial analysts, who imagined a coupon of 0,58 euro per share.
The dividend refers to a 2014 balance sheet which records a slight decline in profit on the previous year (1,67 billion euros, against 1,91 in 2013) due to non-recurring charges of 400 million related to the sale of Bsi and the write-down of the stake in the Russian company Ingosstrakh. L'adjusted net profit, i.e. excluding extraordinary charges, is in fact 2,1 billion euro.
I awards they reached 70,4 billion, with a growth in Life of 11,25. Profitability and assets are growing.
The managing director, Mario Greco, underlined that the turnaround plan, the objectives of which were achieved a year ahead of schedule, has “generated €18 billion in shareholder value. We are confident that we will continue to create value in the future as well”. Greco also said that Generali is focused on its core insurance business and is not thinking about acquisitions. Furthermore, in May the new phase of the strategy will be presented, "which will open a new chapter in the history of Generali". The appointment is set in London on May 27th.
SECURITY UPDATE TRAINING
The announcement of the higher dividend does not spare the Generali stock from sales on the Stock Exchange, also thanks to the good performance of the shares recorded in the previous sessions (from 3 March to yesterday there was an increase of around 5%). After losing 3,5%, the shares lost 2,94% in the mid-morning, settling at 18,52 euros.
