Línea Directa Aseguradora recorded a net profit of 110.1 million euros in 2021, its first year as a company listed on the Stock Exchange. This is 18.3% lower than the figure for 2020, in a pandemic, but 2.6% higher than that of 2019, before the arrival of Covid-19, as reported by the company to the National Market Commission on Monday. Securities (CNMV).
The insurer’s income from premiums increased by 1% in 2021 and exceeded 907 million euros, a record figure in the company’s 26 years of activity, thanks to the strong rate of growth in policies, which reached 3.34 million euros. customers, 4% more. The company explained that this growth in premiums is based both on the increase in the number of policyholders in all lines of business , especially in Home and Health, and on its “capacity to retain the portfolio”.
The net sales of the insurer increased by 1.3% last year, to 574,000 policies, and the increase in the portfolio was more than 130,000 policyholders, 26.6% higher than that registered in 2020. Thus, the number of clients of Línea Directa Aseguradora increased by 4% in 2021, exceeding 3.34 million policyholders.
With all this, the group’s pre-tax profit reached 145.2 million euros and net profit stood at 110.1 million. Thus, Línea Directa maintained its level of profitability (ROE) at 30.4%, “one of the highest in the sector”, according to the insurer.
The CEO of the company, Patricia Ayuela , has highlighted the “excellent” results obtained during the first year of listing on the Stock Exchange: “the highest in history in terms of income and excellent profits, 2.6% more than in 2019, which is really commendable considering the adverse market situation”, he underlined.
The company’s board of directors has proposed to the general shareholders’ meeting the distribution of a complementary dividend of 0.020 euros per share for an amount of 21.5 million euros. With this new payment, which will be paid in March, the total shareholder remuneration charged to 2021 profits will reach 99.1 million euros, which implies a payout of 90% and a dividend yield of 5.7 %.
After this complementary payment in March, the company’s solvency margin stands at 186%, a comfortable level and above the regulatory minimum. By branches, in Autos, which represents 82% of the business, the Group’s revenues stood at 748.1 million euros (-0.9%, the same decrease as the market). According to the company, this slight decrease is framed in a context of high competition and in which the sale of second-hand vehicles, associated with more competitive average premiums, is replacing the weak registration of new vehicles .
Likewise, the company’s income in the Home segment exceeded 131.2 million euros, which represents an increase of 8.8% in the year, 3.9 percentage points more than the average for the sector (+4, 9%), and its weight over the group’s total business is now close to 15%. In Health, the branch in which the group operates under the Vivaz brand, the company has reached a first milestone by exceeding, in just over four years of activity, 100,000 policyholders, after registering in 2021 a growth in clients of 17, 5%, up to 105,000. This increase in the portfolio has translated into a 21.2% increase in revenue from premiums in this line of business, to 26.4 million euros.