Generali first-quarter net profit down 85% after write-offs related to Covid-19 crisis

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s biggest insurer Assicurazioni Generali said on Thursday first quarter net profit fell 85% with respect to a year earlier after 655 million euros of impairments due to the impact of Covid-19 on financial markets.

Net profit was down to 113 million euros, below a 379 million euro analyst consensus provided by the company.

Operating profit, the number most closely watched by the market, rose by 7.6% to 1.45 billion euros, pushed up by the property & casualty and asset management businesses, the company said in a statement.

Analysts forecast an operating profit of 1.3 billion.

Generali said it saw a “resilient” 2020 operating profit, though likely lower than in 2019, and a negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on its full-year net profit.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Giulia Segreti)