Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (G) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the Shareholders' Meeting of Assicurazioni Generali convened today in ordinary and extraordinary session at the Generali Convention Center in Trieste, Viale Miramare 24/2. Before starting the meeting proceedings, I think I would like to express everyone's thought in remembering Pope Francis, whose memory is still vivid in Trieste and all of us following his recent visit to the city in this very place. In line with the Articles of Association, I take the Chair of the meeting for the secretarial duty shall be assisted [ pushing ] to Article 25 of the Articles of Association and Article 4 of the rules of procedure of the shareholders' meeting by Mr. Giuseppe Catalano, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the company. I also invite the notary, [indiscernible] to draft the minutes of this meeting. First of all, I would like to share with all the excitement of attending my first General Shareholders' meeting in person after 2 remote meetings. After 5 years, we are back to hold the shareholders' meeting in front of our shareholders, and we are doing so here. We are doing so here at the Generali Convention Center, which is now an internationally renowned conference venue for science, innovation, research and culture and which is also -- which also excels in its approach to sustainability. It is also the place where a few weeks ago, we celebrated the return of Generali to the place where it was founded, Carciotti palace, where we launched an important initiative, which we'll report on later. On behalf of the colleagues who share with me this Chair table, I also greet all those who are following this event via streaming. As in the previous years, even those who are not shareholders are able to follow the first part of our meeting that is the opening speeches of the Group CEO, Philippe Donnet; Group CFO, Cristiano Borean; and myself. Actually, we believe that this is an important moment of corporate communication, and we want to allow a wide and inclusive audience of shareholders and stakeholders to attend it live and to access the same information content available to those, who are now here in the room, of course, for our reports. This approach is consistent with Generali's strategy, which focuses on digital development and the integration of technology into its business. And thanks to these tools, we are also trying to achieve a wider engagement of the so-called retail shareholders, who account for the largest part of our shareholder base, i.e., 160,000 people. The streaming service, which also places Generali in the top international level, includes a simultaneous translation into French -- German, French and Spanish as well as the use of sign language and subtitles in Italian. When we finish our speeches, there will be the formal part of the meeting, and this can only be followed by those who are here in the room. Now let's open the first part with the preliminary formalities of this meeting. Since the first call of the shareholders' meeting was canceled for lack of a quorum, the ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Assicurazioni Generali will be held on second call today. In line with Article 2369 of the Civil Code, the ordinary shareholders' meeting is validly constituted in second call irrespective of the portion of capital represented, whereas in line with subsection 4 of the same article, the extraordinary shareholders' meeting is validly constituted in second call when more than 1/3 of the share capital is represented. In this respect, I would like to inform you that at 9.08, the registration was completed by 14.875% of the share capital and by proxy, 53.850% of the share capital and 68.726% of the share capital is represented here. So the meeting is validly constituted in the second call in line with Article 2369 Paragraph 3 of the Italian Civil Code. And now let's turn to the announcement that myself, Donnet and Borean will make today to all those attending the first part of the meeting.

Dear shareholders, it's not easy to describe how excited I am to be with all of you here finally in person at the end of my 3 years office, as the Chairman of Assicurazioni Generali. When in May '22, I was appointed to this office, I accepted with great pride, but also with great sense of responsibility for guiding the Board of Directors of one of the most important financial companies in Italy and Europe. Generali is a reliable reference point for its customers, for employees and for 160,000 retail shareholders that consider investing in this company safe and profitable, thanks to the promises delivered and growing dividends. In 194 years since its foundation, Generali has gone through periods of great transformations, proving resilient even in the most difficult historical conditions. Since the pandemic, many of the traditional paradigms we were used to collapsed. After decades of substantial stability, we have entered an era of great changes, geopolitical instability that makes it difficult to make forecast and that has a negative influence on economy and global markets. In the past few weeks, in particular, we witnessed the U.S.A. policies about tariffs and the adverse reaction of stock exchanges all over the world. The deep interconnection of the economic global system has created transversal volatility in all economic industries involving also financial stakeholders. Nevertheless, may I draw your attention on some long-term aspects that as the Generali shareholders, I believe, may inspire confidence and optimism. First of all, these are the figures contained in the financial statements that we submit to the voting of our shareholders and which will be described in detail by Mr. Donnet and Cristiano Borean, our CEO and CFO, that express some optimism. Second, the results obtained with the 3-year strategic plan just concluded, whose goals have been reached and even outgrown despite inflation and the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. And this is the fruit of what was done in the 2 previous strategic plans that were successfully completed. Number three, in these years, the group was able to grow, thanks to acquisitions aiming at strengthening our positioning in key markets, both in the insurance industry and asset management, investing important resources in technological transformation and in training our people. As far as training is concerned, for instance, we promoted the internal upskilling program for our staff all over the world through our internal academy, reaching 84% of involvement of our workforces. Moreover, synergies were developed with universities and scientific research institutions in the communities where we are present for studying all those issues connected to finance and technology. Among these, the University of Trieste, where we created a department about responsible and sustainable AI, which couples with the commitment taken up with the project Agorai Hub, which will be founded in Palazzo Carciotti. Fourth, 71 million customers in 50 countries all over the world are showing their confidence in us every day. Generali has a diversified strategy to offer protection and investment product all over the world, capturing advantages offered by the individual market. Number five, the quality of people in our group is really very high. We can rely on a high-quality management team, 87,000 employees, 165,000 agents all over the world, working with commitment, professional skills and a deep feeling of belonging. In these 3 years of my office, I have spent a lot of time in traveling around our group and coming to meet the people. I always found a deep professional approach, a great team spirit and the pride of being part of a prestigious group. This is one of the very specular feature of Generali, one of its most important assets and something which the success of the company is based on. May I take this opportunity to thank all Generali people for their dedication to our company, and I learned what it means to be part of our lion or to feel part of our lion. For all these reasons, the Generali Group is well positioned in order to tackle this difficult and delicate phase the world is going through now and the important responsibility that Generali has as an important national and international financial institutions. In the year 2024, 2 reports were published at the European level. The Letta report that concentrates on integration of the single market and sectorial cooperation and then the Draghi report that is focusing on global competition of the European Union. Both reports, albeit in different perspective, indicate a clear path ahead of us, which is based on a greater European integration, which will allow us to meet global challenges. No European countries can manage economic pressures coming from China, which will saturate our markets with a great amount of low-cost products. At the same time, it's impossible to find a national answer to the new requirements of the expansion attitude of Russia and the American disengagement and cyber attacks. Moreover, no European country alone can tackle climate changes that are becoming more and more serious and causing more and more damage. Finally, it is necessary to tackle -- with European coordinated policies to tackle new commercial pressure coming from overseas. Last year, too, I considered it important to emphasize the inadequacy of the rule systems at European level that -- and the inability to take quick decisions, which are otherwise required. These rules often have the effect of making European citizens become detached from the European governing bodies. The answer to this situation must not be going back in the course of unification. On the contrary, it is advisable to go on and changing some fundamental principles. One of these is unanimity through which some countries use the veto power, blocking democratic processes and blocking action or the differences in fiscal policies inside a single market. Apart from these, the Letta's and Draghi's report outline in the financial sector, a pillar for a better integration at the European level that should proceed towards completion of the single market and developing rules that may favor also a greater integration of the insurance industry. It is also necessary to have a stronger mutual confidence among the European Union countries in order to favor the creation of great European champions able to attract global capitals, representing an alternative to American actors. This is essential in order to support the economies of all European countries and in order to guarantee advantages to European savers. In this context, the dialogue between the financial sector and public institutions is of crucial importance. Cooperation among public and private sector is fundamental also in other areas. For instance, the insurance protection gap among different countries and our countries in developing countries. These -- this requires long-term cooperation projects, and this cooperation must have a global scale. In this stage of geopolitical frictions, it's important to keep international cooperation alive and -- as well as multilateral dialogue. In this conviction, Generali is approaching dialogue with international organization, and it commits itself in projects that involve different realities of the group, as a partner in the public sector and as an insurance and financial investor. As you know, for many years already, Generali collaborates with the development program of the United Nations and is committed in the insurance development forum, a public-private partnership guided by the insurance industry and supported by the United Nations and World Bank. The objective is that of offering protection to fragile social groups in area of the world that are particularly hit by climate change and then also financing infrastructural changes that may favor economic development in developing countries, which are, by the way, often subject to immigration flow. We also aim at developing small and medium enterprises that represent a very important economic base in many areas of the world, including Italy and Europe. All these projects are developed according to what has always been Generali's approach to sustainability, namely considering economic feasibility of each initiative together with its impact on people and environment. This is the key to success of sustainability, which, unfortunately, the past has always often been pursued without taking into account all these 3 factors in a balanced way. And in this global moment, it runs the risk of being left behind and put aside to the detriment of ourselves and future generations. We must never forget scientific evidence. This is the moment to go on bravely engaging even the most skeptical stakeholders with the objective of developing shared solutions that meet the requirements of 3 clear objectives: The planet, the people and profit. The same is true for policies of diversity, equity and inclusion. In Generali, we always believe in these values, and we developed our approach on these principles. Within these policies, for instance, the percentage of women covering strategic position in Generali is increasing. And at the end of '24, we reached 38.6% of the total. All this represents an advantage for our group that recognized in its people, one of its most important assets. As you know, the attention Generali devotes to people is not confined to its own internal community and direct stakeholders, but it extends also to the community in which we operate. Since its beginning 2017, our Generali Foundation, The Human Safety Net has grown with an impact on over 800,000 lives in 26 countries of the world. Now coming to the conclusion of my contribution, may I remind you of the importance of being present today as shareholders in this meeting. As shareholders, you are called to renovate the Board of Directors and therefore, lay the foundation for the future course of this group. This is a very important choice and a very important decision for the future of this company and for the role it covers. And this is why -- and in a view of continuity, I gave my availability to cover a second mandate as the Chairman of this company. The video that opened the meeting has summarized the results obtained over these years. And it also showed the most distinctive features of this company. In almost 2 centuries of history, the decisions taken by the company allowed it to grow, consolidate and becoming one of the most important multinational companies in Italy and in Europe. In Italy, we always supported economic development, social development. We promote value for customers, shareholders, employees, agents and for the whole of the country. This spirit has always been -- has already inspired the work carried out by the Board of Directors and has guided my own chairmanship and the decisions taken by the Board that has had made impact on the transformation and growth of the group. Each individual decision of the Board of Directors has always be taken after dialogue and constructive discussion in the interest of the company and of the shareholders. May I, therefore, thank here each individual director of the Board for their professional approach, their confidence, the spirit of servicing the company, the teamwork. The Board of Directors has had the honor and privilege to -- I have the honor and privilege to preside over, has always worked very constructively in all occasions, even in the most critical moments in completing the previous plans and in developing the new strategic plan, the Life Partner 27: Driving Excellence (sic) [ Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence ]. For the brilliant results obtained, I would like to thank those who are sitting by my side now and guided the people of our group. First of all, our Group CEO, Philippe Donnet, who, together with his team, has successfully implemented the strategic plans. And I thank our CFO, Cristiano Borean, for the discipline he applied to the financial aspect he has been dealing with, with great energy and enthusiasm. I would like to congratulate all of you, but also the management team of Group Generali for the course they have and the impulse they have given to the group. My warmest thanks to our Secretary of the Board, Giuseppe Catalano, with whom I shared many important moments of these 3 extraordinary years. And finally, a warm thank to all the people of Generali, employees and agents that keep the prestige of our group very high all over the world. I will conclude this introductory speech with the hope that the future of Generali will continue to look forward, building the tomorrow's world with great commitment and responsibility. I thank you once again, and I give the floor to our Group CEO, Philippe Donnet.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, shareholders, good morning to all of you, and thanks for attending our meeting. The shareholders' meeting is the most significant event in the life of a listed company. And we are excited that we can again welcome you in person. We are also happy to be here in Trieste and a city that to us has a great significance. And here in 194 years ago, we started our long history. And here, we start -- we keep -- we still have a very strong presence, and we actively contribute to the development and to the economic life of the city and the whole territory. Two weeks ago, we presented a project that will transform the Carciotti Palace, our first historic headquarters and an excellence center on artificial intelligence, one of the most interesting and important areas of technology innovation. But I also wish to tell you about the major renovation of Palazzo Berlam, another iconic building of the city that we have brought back to life, as the headquarter of our group academy as well as our role as the leading investor in the construction of the Generali Convention Center, which hosts us -- which is hosting us today. These operations and many more that we implemented in our -- in other cities, which you could see in the opening video, are evidence of our honest commitment to supporting the Italian cultural heritage, and we've been doing so over the past years. This meeting is also marks the end of a cycle that was important and very important for all of us. And today, you are called upon to vote on the new Board of Directors. I'd like to thank Chairman Sironi for leading the outgoing Board of Directors with the utmost skill, professionalism and independence. I'm also thankful to all the outgoing directors for actually ensuring a constructive and respectful dialogue with our management team. Now I'd like to start looking at -- briefly looking at our achievements over the past year. Generali has never been so strong as it is today. Given that we are talking about a history of nearly 200 years, that is something that we are immensely proud of. Last month, we presented our financial results on 2024 and which we are submitting for your approval today and which were once again excellent. In his speech, our group Chief Financial Officer, Cristiano Borean, will go into details on all the main indicators, but let me highlight some of the key figures. The operating result reached once again a record figure for our group at EUR 7.3 billion, an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year, thanks to the positive contribution of all the business segments. The adjusted net profit was the highest in our history, rising to EUR 3.8 billion, growing by 5.4% as compared to year-end 2023. In the Life segment, the net inflows recovered strongly, returning to positive territory at EUR 9.7 billion, entirely driven by the unit linked and pure risk and health products. This outstanding result, which is unique in the industry is further evidenced of our -- of the strength of our distribution network and the quality of the product offer. Finally, we also had a very positive performance in our asset and wealth management business. The total assets under management grew by 31.6%, thanks to the addition of Conning in the perimeter and the effect of net inflows. As a result and as well as the very sound performance of Banca Generali, the operating result in the segment increased almost 23%. Thanks to this excellent performance. Today, we are here to ask you to adopt a dividend of EUR 1.43 per share, around 12% higher than the last year. Over the past 9 years, that is since I've had the honor of leading this group, our focus on your remuneration has always been very high. This is shown by the fact that year after year, we have proposed attractive and continuously increasing dividends. And the evidence is EUR 6.5 billion of capital between dividends and share buybacks over the last strategic cycle. And this is also shown that since November 2016 until today, that is since the presentation of the first plan developed by the current management team, our total shareholder return has been above our peers and competitors and the entire European insurance sector. The importance of these results and the commitment towards shareholders have also been widely recognized by the financial community. Of course, the positive feedback and the acknowledgment of the achievements of our group motivates us to do even better and to continue to reward your trust. With the publication of the results on 2024, that was the end of the strategic plan, Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth. It is the third consecutive plan that we have been able to successfully complete over delivering against all our financial targets. I'm, therefore, deeply grateful to our colleagues and agents around the world for their great work and commitment, which was key to achieve this. This achievement is even more significant in the light of the challenging external environment in recent years, marked by strong political tensions, high inflation, a sudden rise in interest rates and the increase in extreme natural events. We responded to all these challenges by sticking to our long-term strategy without any fears of making quick and decisive decisions to adapt. Some tangible examples of this agility are the decisive shift in the Life segment towards low capital absorption products, which currently account for 70% of our reserves or the inflation fighting program, which included the measures to adjust rates in P&C. Of course, we will keep this resilience and agility to face whatever challenges may lie ahead of us. In this respect, as Chairman Sironi already mentioned, the policies of the U.S. administration on tariffs and the relevant reactions they sparked on -- at global level are a key topic, and we will be required to actually devote our attention to it. Thanks to our proven experience, we'll be able to successfully respond to this new challenge, as we have already done in recent years. As you know, at the heart of Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth, there was the ongoing commitment to being a lifetime partner to our customers. And I'm pleased that the work and the investments made to offer our customers an experience and a product meeting their changing needs and expectations continue to pay off. The strengthening of our #1 position versus our main competitors in terms of relationship Net Promoter Score, an indicator measuring the degree of satisfaction with the service that has been provided is an important proof of that. The same applies to the ongoing increase in the number of customers, who actually have chosen us to cover 2 or several of their insurance needs. Once again, this confirms the fundamental role played by our agents. And they help us to distribute more than half of our total policies. This figure, which is almost twice as much as the industry average, is a real competitive advantage for us. The plan that has just been achieved also focused on further pursuing sustainable growth of the group. We committed to doing so by strengthening the sources of income by increasing the profitability of the Life business, increasing asset management revenues from third-party clients, investing over EUR 1 billion in our digital and technological transformation and by optimizing our operational system. Besides all that, we kept on investing in the development of our people and their skills. This commitment was greatly appreciated by our colleagues, whose engagement rate has grown up to 83%, a figure that actually rewards our work. The success of the plan shows that we have kept our promises. We kept consolidating -- strengthening Generali position as one of the major insurance and asset management groups at global level. This was also made possible by several significant acquisitions that we made over the past 3 years in both our core businesses. In the insurance area, we further enhanced our leadership in the Italian market with Cattolica, while we significantly strengthened our presence in Spain and Portugal with the acquisition of Liberty Seguros. The acquisition of La Medicale in France and Tranquilidade in Portugal were important levers for growth in P&C, one of our main strategic objectives. Beside -- well, outside Europe, we continue to strengthen our presence in high-growth potential markets such as China, India and Malaysia. Besides all that, we actually achieved the sale of the dismissal of activities of businesses in some nonstrategic markets. Looking at the asset management business, the acquisition of the U.S.-based, Conning Holdings and its affiliate and its subsidiaries is fundamental to our ambition to build a truly global and diversified ecosystem. Similarly, the recent acquisition of MGG, another American asset manager, will allow us to accelerate the strategic development of our private credit skills. It is important to point out that the integration of the acquired companies always represents the most sensitive phase of any M&A transactions. In this respect, I'm truly satisfied of how our teams have worked success and are still working together to do so successfully on all these areas. Now let me tell you about the new strategic plan. The strong focus on customers and the promise to be a lifetime partner to them will continue to guide our group in the coming years as clearly indicated by the name of the plan, Lifetime Partners -- Partner 27: Driving Excellence. This strategy that we presented in Venice at the end of January and which we are already rolling out aims at achieving further excellence in everything we do and focuses on 3 fundamental elements: excellence in customer relationships, excellence in core competencies and excellence in the group's operating model. In Life business, our offering of hybrid and unit linked products will continue to be a priority, allowing us to fully meet the growing needs of customers in terms of financial security, retirement and savings. In P&C business, we will maximize profitable growth, especially in the non-motor line in our key markets, while strengthening our presence and offering in countries with high growth potential. Looking at asset management, we will continue to enhance our global platform, further implementing the strategy that has already achieved excellent results in recent years. All this will go hand-in-hand with an ongoing focus on simplification and innovation, while our people, sustainability, artificial intelligence and data management are the fundamental pillars on which the entire plan is based. In this respect, we will continue to invest in the training of our colleagues and in development of their skills so that they can be better equipped to cope with the challenges resulting from the ongoing technology revolution. Our group academy, as we said, is based here in Trieste in Palazzo Berlam will continue to have -- to play a fundamental role. And therefore, we also increase the investments on this. And with these clear priorities, we expect to reach even more ambitious targets than those of the previous plan. Also when it comes to shareholders remuneration with double-digit dividend per share growth, generating over EUR 7 billion in cumulative dividends over the course of the plan. In addition, we are committed to implementing at least EUR 1.5 billion in -- on share buybacks. That includes the buyback plan of EUR 500 million that was presented at the Investor Day and that we will -- that of course we're asking you to adopt today. Now let me end my report, pointing out our commitment to always act as a responsible investor insurance, employer and corporate citizen. Sustainability is a fundamental strategic element in our way of doing business. And in line with this, we are aware of the important contribution that a large international group can actually and must provide at social and environmental level. As the Chairman said, we have launched cooperation actions with leading global institutions to address crucial issues such as reducing the insurance protection cuts in vulnerable areas and promoting policies that can reduce inequalities and improve the financial protection. Besides that, our foundation, The Human Safety Net is active in 26 countries with programs for vulnerable families with young children and promoting the integration of refugees. As I said, the foundation has already reached over 800,000 beneficiaries. This significant result was also achieved, thanks to the volunteer work of many of our colleagues and agents around the world. Finally, our consistent approach to sustainability and the quality of the results we have achieved in recent years have been widely recognized by the financial community. And this is a further evidence of how serious we are and how honest we are. And also as for the new strategic cycle, we have set sustainability objectives that are absolutely valuable and ambitious. In conclusion, this shareholders' meeting comes at the end of a year and a full 3-year cycle in which we overdelivered against all the goals that we had set for ourselves. We are hugely proud of that and of the fact that Generali's position today is the strongest ever. As you know, I am available to continue to serve as Group CEO. The major results that we have achieved over the past 9 years have convinced me that Generali will be even more successful in the future. So our work is not finished, and there are further important milestones to reach together. I am confident that Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence is the best possible strategy to achieve this. Therefore, I would be honored to continue to oversee the implementation of the plan also in the next 3 years with the utmost enthusiasm and the utmost ambition. I am very grateful, and I need to say that once again to our team management, to all our colleagues, to all our agents. And thanks to them, our group is -- keeps being increasingly sound, profitable and innovative. Of course, I wish to thank all of you, our shareholders, for the support and the trust that you actually demonstrate every day. In this respect, let me add that we have recently launched an initiative for you, the -- our Shareholders' Club. And the club is an opportunity to further strengthen the dialogue with the shareholders, offering you at the same time, access to many excellent organizations of the group that are active locally and that deserve to be explored. Thank you again for your attention. Thank you for your trust, and I give the floor to our Group Financial Officer, Cristiano Borean. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Philippe. Thank you, Chairman, Sironi. Good morning, everybody. As usual, in this speech, I'm presenting you the main performances of the group as well as the parent company, Generali, whose financial statements are -- we're submitting today for your approval. As already anticipated by Philippe, we are enthusiastic to welcome you in-person here in Trieste, the city where our long history began. In 2024, Generali achieved excellent results and successfully executed the Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth strategic plan, overgrowing all financial targets. This achievement is even more significant if we consider the difficult external context, in which we operate -- have been operated in recent years. Let's see the details. The gross written premiums reached EUR 95.2 billion, increasing significantly by 14.9%, thanks to strong growth in both Life and P&C segments. Gross written premiums in Life business grew significantly to reach EUR 61.4 billion with a plus 19.2%, driven by the strong performance across all business lines. The protection line confirmed its healthy growth plus 9.7% in all main countries. The saving line improved substantially, plus 23.3%, mostly thanks to the performance in Italy, France and Asia. The unit linked line recorded strong growth as well, a plus 23.2%, led by Italy, France and Germany. The non-life gross written premiums grew to EUR 33.8 billion, marking a plus 7.7% over the previous years, thanks to the performance of both business lines. The non-motor line was up by 6.6%, achieving growth across all main areas in which the group operates. The motor line grew significantly by 10.5% across all main areas and particularly thanks to the positive performance obtained in Central, Eastern Europe, Germany, Italy and Argentina. Excluding the contribution from Argentina, which is a country impacted at hyperinflation, motor line premiums are calculated to increase by 6.6%. Life net inflows returned to a robust positive net collection in 2024, reaching EUR 9.7 billion. The protection and unit linked lines recorded positive net inflows, respectively, growing to EUR 5.2 billion and to EUR 5.8 billion. Net flows from savings and pensions equal to EUR 1.3 billion improved -- minus EUR 1.3 billion, improved significantly from the minus EUR 10.2 billion at the financial year 2023, also benefiting from the commercial actions implemented since 2023 and the improvement in the lapse trend. The group's total assets under management grew significantly to reach EUR 863 billion with a plus 31.6%, thanks to positive net inflows and the consolidation in 2024 of Conning Holdings Limited, which contributed with EUR 164 billion at the end of last year. These results confirm the excellent financial performance of the group with a record operating result in continuous growth, reaching EUR 7.295 billion with a plus 8.2%, thanks to the positive development of Life business, plus 6.6%; P&C, plus 5.1% and Asset and Wealth Management reached a plus 22.6%. All this reflects the diversification of our profit sources. The profitability of new business margin on present value of new business premium stood at 4.6%, minus 1.19 percentage points. After neutralizing a purely accounting effect of French protection business, the reduction of margin would have been limited to about minus 0.9 percentage points. This reflects the effect of the commercial initiatives in Italy, the decrease in interest rates and minor effects. The undiscounted combined ratio improved to -- improved reaching 95.9%, which was 96.7% in '23. The undiscounted current year loss ratio, excluding nat cat improved by 1.4 percentage points and reflects the pricing and technical actions implemented since 2023. The expense ratio improved to reach 28.8%, minus 0.3 percentage points, also following the consolidation of Liberty Seguros. The reported combined ratio, which includes the discounting effect stood at 94%, unchanged compared to '23 despite a lower current year discounting benefit reflecting the decline in interest rates and a lower contribution from the previous years. The Asset and Wealth Management operating result grow significantly to reach EUR 1.176 billion, thanks to the strong contribution given by Banca Generali with EUR 560 million. And thanks to the growing asset management results that reached EUR 616 million benefiting, of course, from the consolidation of Conning. The operating result of the holding and other business segment was minus EUR 536 million compared to the minus EUR 415 million of 2023, and this is mainly due to lower intragroup dividends. The nonoperating result is equal to minus EUR 1.255 billion, and it was minus EUR 1.125 billion in 2023, considering lower net realized gains, partially offset by a reduction in restructuring costs. The comparative result at the end of '23 had also benefited from the sale of Generali Deutschland Pensionskasse and of the Cattolica joint ventures. The net result, therefore, amounts to EUR 3.724 billion. It was EUR 3.747 billion in '23. The adjusted net results achieved the record level of EUR 3,769 million, plus 5.4%, and this was primarily obtained, thanks to the improved operating results, which benefited from the diversified profit sources. The net holding cash flow has risen to reach EUR 3.761 billion compared to EUR 2.936 billion in '23, mainly thanks to growing remittances. The group confirmed its solid capital position with the solvency ratio at 210%. It was 220% in '23, primarily reflecting the acquisition of Liberty Seguros and the share buyback program amounting to EUR 500 million completed in 2024. The group's shareholders' equity increased to EUR 30.389 billion, marking a plus 4.9% over last year, thanks to the net result for the period, partially offset by the 2023 dividend payment and the above-mentioned share buyback program. Emphasizing the solidity of our cash and capital position, both an increase in the dividend per share and the share buyback plan to be executed in '25 will be submitted to your approval today. The latter also subject to the relevant regulatory approvals provided by law. In the second part of my contribution, I'm going to illustrate the main economic and financial indicators of the parent company. Gross written premiums amount to EUR 6.260 billion, growing by 7.6%. This increase is to be attributed to the performance of the P&C segment with plus 12.2%, mainly benefiting from the new reinsurance accepted from the group companies and to a lesser extent from further development of insurance production in the travel insurance line of the New York branch as well as from the growth in the employee benefit lines of the Hong Kong branch. Gross written premiums in Life segment slightly decreased minus 4.6%, mainly due to accepted businesses. The net profit for the period amounted to EUR 3.690 billion, considerably higher compared to the previous year with plus 155.1%. Such an increase is characterized by a steady rise in the profit from ordinary operation to EUR 3.460 billion, primarily due to the greater dividends coming from subsidiaries. We remind you that the comparative date at the end of last -- of 2023 reflected the repayment of a subordinated loan by Generali Italia to the parent company as an equivalent alternative to a dividend payment. The shareholders' equity stands at EUR 19.74 billion growing by 5.4% with the positive contribution of the profit for the period, which more than offsets the payment of the dividend on the year 2023 and the purchase of own shares for the subsequent cancellation in the framework of the '22-'24 strategic plan as well as owned shares to service long-term incentive plans. Total assets rose by 6.5% to EUR 57.6 billion. Net technical result increased to reach EUR 11.7 billion. And this is mainly due to the new reinsurance accepted directly by the parent company and related to the global corporate and commercial segment and by the Luxembourg branch. External debt amounts to EUR 10.9 billion, marking a plus 7.7% growth. This change is mainly attributable to the replacement of [ Generali SpA ] with the parent company, as the issuer of a subordinated loan with a nominal value of EUR 500 million as well as attributable to debt refinancing transactions executed in 2024. Finally, the solvency position is confirmed to be very sound at 269.7% over the 270.5% recorded in '23. As Philippe Donnet already mentioned, the dividend we proposed to your approval is equal to EUR 1.43 per share, marking a plus 11.7%, resulting in a total maximum payout of EUR 2.172 billion. Moreover, we are submitting today for your approval a share buyback program of EUR 500 million, the latter also subject to the relevant regulatory approvals. This confirms that the group is continuously focused on increasing shareholders' remuneration, supported by very positive results and a strong cash and capital position. Finally, as a conclusion, the results achieved in 2024 confirm Generali's excellent performance with further growth in premium, thanks to the significant increase in the Life and non-Life segments. Then the record operating and adjusted net results, a growing cash generation and a solid capital position. Thanks to all this and confirming the group's focus on increasing shareholder remuneration, we are submitting to your approval a proposal for a double-digit growth in dividend per share and a share buyback scheme of EUR 500 million. With these financial results, Generali is successfully completing and implementing the Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth strategic plan. And now it's fully focused on accelerating its pursuit of excellence, underlying our ambitious new Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence strategic plan. Finally, may I also address all our people thanking them for the commitment, dedication and affection to the company shown also in the year 2024. To them and to their families, I express my utmost sincere thanks. Now I give the floor back to President -- to Chairman Sironi, to go on with the meeting procedures.

I thank the colleagues for their speeches, and that concludes the first part of the meeting. I now agree to all those, who have followed our meeting via live streaming. Before moving on to the second part of the meeting, which is just for authorized attendance, I leave you with a video that tells us about Palazzo Carciotti, the cradle where Generali was established on the 26th of December 1831. Thank you for your attention. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]