Premiums volume

Premiums volume increased by € 1,099 million to € 5,375 million, reflecting strong organic growth in all three product lines and the contribution of Aegon NL of € 167 million. In P&C and Disability, organic growth was driven by increased sales volumes, tariff adjustments and the closing of a new collective disability insurance agreement at the end of 2022. In Health, premiums volume increased by 64% due to an increase of almost 235,000 customers in the policy renewal season. Disciplined pricing has resulted in an outflow of approximately 175,000 customers in 2024, largely offsetting the strong inflow of customers in 2023.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses increased by € 56 million to € 347 million, mainly driven by the addition of the Aegon Nederland activities. In addition, operating expenses increased as a result of organic growth in P&C and Disability. The expense ratio of the segment (excluding Health) increased by 0.5%-points to 8.3% mostly due to the addition of Aegon Nederland. The expense ratio including Health improved by 0.4%-points to 6.1%, mostly due to economies of scale in the Health portfolio.

Operating result

The operating result of the Non-life segment increased by € 122 million to € 381 million, mainly due to a higher operating investment and finance result (OIFR) in addition to the contribution of Aegon Nederland and improved underwriting results in Disability and Health. The OIFR improved mainly due to interest accretion of the balance sheet as a result of higher interest rates, partly offset by lower investment returns. The improvement in Disability mainly related to net positive non-recurring impacts and benefit from pricing improvements, especially in Group Disability in 2022. In P&C, the result decreased slightly, primarily due to the impact of inflation on claims despite a lower level of weather-related calamities. In Health, the operating result increased due to the growth of the business, which resulted in improved cost coverage.

Combined ratio

In P&C, the combined ratio increased to 93.6% (2022: 92.5%), primarily driven by the impact of inflation on claims despite a lower level of weather-related calamities compared with 2022. Premium increases were implemented in the retail portfolio at the end of the second quarter and in the commercial portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2023. These increases take effect from policy anniversary dates throughout the year (especially in the personal lines portfolio), and it therefore takes an entire year to see the full effect on the total portfolio. In addition, the higher average interest rate environment compared to 2022 had a positive impact on the discounting of incurred claims.

In Disability, the combined ratio improved by 3.1%-points to 93.5%, reflecting net positive non-recurring impacts and benefit from pricing improvements, especially in Group Disability. The non-recurring items mainly reflect the positive impact of the alignment of all collective provisioning models, partly offset by strengthening of Sickness Leave provisions due to long-term (psychological) absenteeism.

The combined ratio of Health improved by 2.3%-points to 98.9%, mostly resulting from growth of the business, which led to a lower expense ratio due to economies of scale. Last year, the commissions rate was higher due to acquisition costs made for the inflow of new customers in 2023.

Result before tax

The result before tax increased by € 356 million to € 273 million (2022: € -82 million), mainly due to the negative impact of investment-related incidental items in 2022. The investment-related incidental items amounted to € 29 million in 2023 (2022: € -185 million), helped by more stable interest rate environment compared to 2022. Non-investment- related incidental items amounted to € -136 million, primarily reflecting the non-economic assumption update for inflation in the liability of incurred claims of Disability, project costs for implementation of IFRS 17/9 and restructuring provisions.