S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of insurance news stories and more published throughout the week.
By the numbers
* Aviva Plc upgraded its targets for earnings growth, cash remittance and dividend payout ratio due to its improved financial strategic position in the past four years. The British insurer is aiming for higher than mid-single-digit percentage growth annually in operating EPS under International Financial Reporting Standards from 2019 and a dividend payout ratio of between 55% and 60% of operating EPS by 2020, among other targets.
* NN Group NV CEO Lard Friese said the Netherlands-based insurer expects its acquisition of Delta Lloyd NV to deliver cost synergies, with the company aiming to reduce the 2016 full-year cost base of the entities in scope of the integration by about €350 million by 2020. NN Group is targeting an annual growth rate of between 5% and 7% on average of its pretax operating result in the medium term, while paying out 40% to 50% of its net operating income in dividends.
* Fellow Dutch insurer ASR Nederland NV reported third-quarter operating result of €165 million, up from €146 million in the year-ago period. For the first nine months of 2017, the company's operating result totaled €550 million, an increase of 23.6% from the year-ago €445 million.
* Germany-based Vienna Insurance Group AG reported third-quarter IFRS profit attributable to shareholders of €68.4 million, compared to €67.1 million in the year-ago period, while attributable profit for the nine months to Sept. 30 fell year over year to €215.0 million from €219.8 million. CEO Elisabeth Stadler said it is still unclear how large the impact of Storm Herwart, which hit parts of Europe at the end of October, will be in the group's results, but that it expects gross claims of between €40 million and €45 million.
Buyers and sellers
* Allianz Group said it intends to acquire all the outstanding shares of France-based trade-credit insurer Euler Hermes Group SA that it does not own and held by minority shareholders through a simplified cash tender offer for a price of €122 per share. The German insurer already reached share purchase agreements with shareholders representing 11.34% of Euler Hermes' share capital, as a result of which Allianz will own 74.34% of Euler Hermes.
* ERGO Group AG said it has ended discussions regarding the sale of its German life insurance units with traditional life insurance portfolios. Run-off specialists backed by buyout firms Cinven Ltd., Apollo Global Management LLC, and Fosun International Ltd., as well as U.K.-based Resolution, are said to have tabled nonbinding offers of around €1 billion for ERGO's German run-off life insurance policies, but the Munich Re unit reportedly deemed the bids too low compared to its parent's targeted bid of around €2 billion.
* Meanwhile, Italy's Generali is said to be continuing talks with Cinven, Apollo and Fosun to sell its German life insurance portfolio, which has roughly 4 million contracts and is backed by capital investments amounting to €40 billion.
* Insr Insurance Group ASA secured the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority's approval for its full acquisition of NEMI Forsikring ASA from Denmark's Alpha Insurance A/S. The company said the financial group that will be established once the transaction is completed may include two separate companies involved in the same type of business for up to six months.
* U.K.-based Markel International Ltd. completed its acquisition of specialist insurer EC Insurance Co. Ltd. from Electrical Contractors' Association after getting approval from the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority.
Appointments
* Axa unit AXA UK Plc named Scott Wheway chairman to succeed Ian Brimecome, who will retire after five years in the role. Wheway, who will take on the role Dec. 12, served as chairman of Aviva Insurance Ltd. until September.
* Russian insurer PAO Rosgosstrakh said Mikhail Zadornov was named chairman of its board of directors.
* ERGO Group named Piotr Sliwicki CEO of new unit ERGO International Corporate Solutions SA. Markus Hofmann will join as chief market and sales officer and Adam Roman will take the post of chief underwriting officer at the new company, with Hofmann to be replaced as CEO of ERGO Versicherung AG by Mathias Scheuber. Meanwhile, Silke Lautenschläger was named CEO for DKV Belgium SA and ERGO Insurance NV, replacing DKV CEO Emmanuel de Talhouet and ERGO Insurance NV CEO Mark Lammerskitten, among other appointments.
In other news
* New York's Department of Financial Services has ordered certain underwriters at Lloyd's of London to pay a civil money penalty of $920,000 for underwriting an unlicensed credit and debit card-based life insurance program.
* Pool Reinsurance Co. Ltd. said it will begin underwriting risks from cyber terrorism from April 2018, with the coverage to include "material damage and direct business interruption using a cyber-trigger," although it will exclude damage to intangible assets.
* Specialist insurer Beazley Plc has set up a marine platform in the U.S.
Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence
FCA CEO joins call for urgent post-Brexit insurance trade solution: U.K. Financial Conduct Authority CEO Andrew Bailey reminded the House of Lords' EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee of the urgency to develop a solution for cross-border insurance contracts with a duration beyond Britain's March 2019 exit date.
Pool Re to offer premium discount for cyber cover: Pool Re CEO Julian Enoizi said the reinsurer is planning to offer a premium discount on its new cyber cover for companies that take steps to mitigate and manage their risks.
Aviva CEO predicts delay to new insurance accounting standard: Aviva CEO Mark Wilson said he expects the forthcoming IFRS 17 accounting standard for insurance contracts to be delayed.
