The president of MapfreAntonio Huertas, has announced this Thursday that the insurer is immersed in a review of thethe prices of their car insurance that will cause “more than half of the customers will pay more”, although “many customers will pay less”. The executive has affirmed that the process will not be carried out in a general way, but “individualized by customer profile and type of risk”, and has justified it by the need to make this business profitable in a context of sharp rise in costs due to the inflation. “When it is stated that the prices of automobile insurance are not going to be raised, it is not true, you have to be aware and realistic“, has released a veiled reference to one of its competitors.
orchards, so has highlighted that the results of the automobile business are not being good “for any company in the world”, as it shows that its subsidiary in USA have entered losses for the first time (16.2 million). In Spain, he has argued, the prima half ha gone down in between 2% and 3% in the last decade due to strong competition, but the inflationary spiral makes it unsustainable since the cost of repair and replace Cars. That is why Mapfre is going to review the prices, he has justified, to “continue making the business sustainable” in the long term, maintain the quality of service its customers and employment, and protect the interest of its shareholders.
The executive, likewise, has ensured that the supervisory bodies In many of the countries where Mapfre operates, they are facilitating price increases by worrying about the sustainability of the business. Furthermore, he has admitted that “customer part” of automobile in Spain can not accept the increase, but he has shown himself convinced that will not be majority nor relevant. “In general, the customer value other many more thingsMapfre is not always the cheapest company and it is the number one of automobile insurance in this country, with almost six million vehicles insured and a market share of around 20%. It is true that it is difficult to increase it, because once those levels are reached we are the target of attack of all the competitors”, he highlighted.
More costs, less extraordinary
the insurer earned 642 million of euros last year, a 16.1% less than in the previous If one excludes from the comparison the 167 million in capital gains which he obtained in 2021 from the sale of his alliance with the bank a CaixaBank and the 104 million which he devoted to an extraordinary plan of incentivized terminations and other measures to improve efficiency, the recurring profit I would have fallen less and 7%. This decrease was due to the impact of the inflation (which raises the cost of claims linked to the provision of a service in favor of the client), to the increase in the accident rate in the business of automobiles (both due to the increased activity after the end of the covid restrictions as by the cost of the repairs), and two catastrophes: followed her from the basin of the Parana River in Brazil and Paraguay (112 million for agricultural insurance) and the hurricane fiona in Puerto Rico (31 million).
Despite the drop in profit, the company announced this Thursday a new dividend of 0.85 euros per share, which added to the 0.6 euros already paid implies that it will remunerate its shareholders with €447 millionas in recent years, although the profit percentage distributed increases up to 69,5%. “We have not contemplated the lowest dividend at any time, we understand that we have sufficient financial capacitykeeping the very high levels of solvency that we have, to maintain it. In the frontispiece we have take care of our shareholdersWe do not want to give negative surprises. we would even increase it in future years to the extent that the result can improve”, argued Huertas. The stock market has rewarded him with a stock rise around 1.5%.
more benefit
Looking ahead to 2023, the financial director, Fernando Matahas pointed out that the profit will increaseif the accident rate is normal and no extraordinary catastrophes occur above the usual, thanks to the price increase of automobile insurance and the rise in interest rates. Regarding the latter, Huertas has encouraged individuals to go to their offices instead of buying treasure letters: “We offer much more, the product of Treasury bills is a very basic thing that it does not have any type of additional protection and that it is pure public debt, which is very good at the moment because the profitability is interestingbut when an insurance product approaches or equals that profitability and also offers a complete protection program, life, disability and death coverageIt’s a lot more interesting.”
The executive, likewise, has joined the recent demand of the business sector before the United We Can reviews: “The company must be defended, the company is the engine of this countrygenerates 80% of employment”. Likewise, he warned that the Spanish economy could perform worse than the European average this year “if the political tension stop making the politicians in charge focus on the real problems in society and our country and are diverted to less relevant things”. He has also criticized that the Government has raised the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) without meeting with the CEOE employers and “abrupt”without taking into account the different situation of the different productive sectors, just to make a decision “politically very salable”.