Sampo Oyj (SAMPO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. I'm Morten Thorsrud, CEO of Sampo Group. It's a pleasure to share my first quarterly update as CEO, including strong growth, successful execution of our strategy and updated EPS target and a new buyback program. Sampo is a unique P&C insurance group, combining leading positions in attractive markets with cutting-edge digital capabilities that enable excellent service at high efficiency. The strong third quarter results validate our strategic focus on leveraging our operational capabilities to drive organic growth at attractive margins. We achieved 16% growth in the operational EPS this quarter on the back of strong organic growth and the delivery of Topdanmark synergies. Our sustained delivery of strong results give us the confidence to raise our operational EPS target for this strategic cycle running from 2024 to 2026 to above 9%. Private Nordic saw a record gross written premium growth of 10%, showing that our investments in our customer propositions are paying off. Market conditions across both our Private Nordic and Nordic Commercial segments remain strong with above 5% growth in all geographies in both customer segments. It's also comforting to notice that new car sales in the Nordics continue to rebound after a period of lower activity. As a testament to our underwriting discipline and focus on disciplined growth, we actively managed the declining market pricing in the U.K. Likewise, in the Industrial segment, we carefully managed our exposure to large property risks, leading to a decline in gross written premiums during this quarter. The Topdanmark integration is proceeding very well, and we are already at the full year synergy target for 2025. We have now realized EUR 24 million worth of run rate synergies by the end of September. Turning to capital management. We are launching a new EUR 150 million buyback program today, funded by the proceeds of the recent NOBA IPO. Moving forward, we will continue the disciplined approach to capital management that we have pursued over recent years. All in all, I'm very satisfied with Sampo's continued strong performance, and I see this quarterly result as a confirmation that we are on the right path strategically.