A deterioration in European equity markets and widening bond spreads pushed down Chesnara’s (CSN) economic value – based on the value of the group’s assets and estimated value of future profits from existing business – by 13 per cent last year. Divisional cash generation fell by a quarter to £64m, which also included the benefit of a £27m release of surplus from the core UK business. Dutch business Scildon generated a negative cash result due to losses associated with corporate and government bonds. Yet the dividend remained covered more than 1.5 times by cash generated.
Swedish open book business Movestic contributed £9.3m in profit, which was flat on the prior year, as were assets under management as volatile markets took their toll. The average policyholder return was a negative 6 per cent against a 7.7 per cent loss from the Swedish stock market. No new deals were completed during the period, but chief executive John Deane says the life insurance consolidator has “good capacity” to complete a transaction. The regulatory surplus above the solvency buffer rose to £168m in 2018, from £151m ib the previous year.
| CHESNARA (CSN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 377p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 565m | |
| TOUCH: | 377-381p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 425p | LOW: 311p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.5% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 297p* | SOLVENCY II RATIO: | 158% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Net premiums (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 76.7 | 28.8 | 22.1 | 18.40 |
| 2015 | 67.9 | 42.8 | 31.5 | 18.94 |
| 2016 | 64.6 | 40.7 | 27.8 | 19.49 |
| 2017 | 177 | 89.6 | 52.4 | 20.07 |
| 2018 | 219 | 27.0 | 16.1 | 20.67 |
| % change | +24 | -70 | -69 | +3 |
| Ex-div: | 11 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 24 May | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £179m, or 110p a share | ||||
