Mapfre's revenues in the first nine months of the fiscal year rose to €21.62bn, representing a 6.5% increase on the same period of the previous year, with premiums growing by 2.5% to €17.65bn. The Group's net earnings are reduced to €463m (-12.5%), mainly due to the Asistencia goodwill impairment.
The solid earnings performance in the Group's three main markets (Spain, Brazil and the United States) and the positive development of the business in LATAM, where premiums grew 13.3%, thanks to good results in Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic, is noteworthy. Furthermore, it is important to note that every country in the LATAM region recorded profits, along with an excellent combined ratio.
This business performance was a result of greater technical strength. The combined ratio continues to improve (1.7percentage points) and stood at 96.4% for the period. Equity stood at €10.31bn at the close of September, 12% more than at December 2018, while shareholders' equity rose by 12.4% in the last nine months to reach €8.98bn. Total assets were also up, rising 10.5% to total €74.34bn.
At the close of September, Group investments amounted to €54.75bn, an increase of 11.1% compared to the close of 2018. The majority of these investments, 56.4% (€30.87bn) are sovereign debt, while 17.6% (€9.64bn) is in corporate fixed income, 4.7% in variable income (€2.59bn) and 2.7% (€1.49bn) in mutual funds.
The Group's Solvency II ratio stood at 198% at the end of June, with 87% of this in Tier 1 (highest-quality) capital, maintaining great strength and stability, thanks to the Group's high level of diversification and strict investment and management policies.
Insurance Unit premiums between January and September totalled €14.94bn, a 4.1% increase compared to the same period last year.
Mapfre RE drove its premium volume up by 7.6% to €4.08bn. This figure includes Global Risks business premiums (€777m). Mapfre RE's net earnings were €102m (-17.6%), affected by an increase in non-catastrophic claim frequency coming from the Mapfre Global Risks portfolio.
Finally, revenues at the Asistencia business unit slipped by 0.5% to €761m. The negative result (-€86m) was impacted by the goodwill impairment at several subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, as well as the provision made to restructure the business in several countries.
The Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) used in the report, which refer to financial measures not defined or specified in the applicable financial reporting framework, along with their definition and method of calculation, can be found on https://www.Mapfre.com/corporate/institutional-investors/financial-information/alternative-performance-measures/