In the first quarter of 2018, Crédit Agricole Assurances generated premium income of €9.2 billion, up 5.6% compared to the first quarter of 2017. It was driven by strong unit-linked inflows, continued gains of market shares in property & casualty insurance and a sustained strong momentum in death & disability / creditor / group insurance business.
Premium income in savings and retirement business reached €6.7 billion, up 4.9% versus the first quarter of 2017, with a positive contribution of both France and International markets. Unit-linked products accounted for 29.8% of gross inflows, up 1.6 point compared with an already high level in the same period of 2017.
Quarterly net inflows amounted to €1.6 billion. Unit-linked products have reached a record level since the beginning of 2016 with €1.3 billion of net inflows, up 17.5% compared to the first quarter of 2017.
Life insurance assets under management increased by 3.2% year-on-year to €280 billion, of which €60 billion of unit-linked products, up 9.3% compared to the end of March 2017.
In property & casualty insurance business, premium income amounted to €1.6 billion, a growth by 8.7% compared to the same period of 2017. Business remained at a sustained level, both for individuals and farmers / professionals, with increases of 9.2% and 7.1% respectively, compared to the first quarter of the previous year[1]. The equipment rate of Crédit Agricole Group's customers kept rising (+0.4 point versus end 2017) and reached 35% for the Regional Banks and 22.8% for LCL. Net inflow came to a record level this quarter, with approximately 211,000 net new contracts, bringing the stock to 12.9 million contracts.
In spite of major weather events at the beginning of the year, the combined ratio remained under control at 98.1%[2].
In death & disability / creditor / group insurance business, premium income increased by 5.1% compared to the first quarter of 2017, to €910 million. The Group now has nearly 500,000 beneficiaries in group health and death & disability, an increase of 160,000 over one year.
