Aegon reports fourth quarter 2022 results

Please click here to access all 4Q2022 results related documents.

The Hague, February 9, 2023 - Acceleration of strategy execution and delivery on financial commitments

• Previously announced impairment loss from classifying Aegon the Netherlands as held for sale following the transaction with a.s.r. leads to net loss of EUR 2.4 billion for 4Q22 and EUR 2.5 billion for the full year
• Operating result of EUR 488 million, a 4% increase compared with 4Q21. Benefits from expense savings, growth initiatives, an improvement in claims experience, and strengthening of the US dollar are partly offset by lower fees due to adverse markets and outflows. Full year 2022 operating result of EUR 1.9 billion, stable compared with the previous year
• The capital ratios of all three main units remain above their respective operating levels. Group Solvency II ratio amounts to 208%
• Cash Capital at Holding increases from EUR 1.4 billion to EUR 1.6 billion, mainly from EUR 318 million of free cash flow in 4Q22. Full year free cash flow increases from EUR 729 million in 2021 to EUR 780 million in 2022
• Proposed final 2022 dividend of EUR 0.12 per common share to be paid in cash, which brings the full year dividend to EUR 0.23 per common share
• Announcing new EUR 200 million share buyback to be executed in 1H23, barring unforeseen circumstances

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
“The fourth quarter closes out a year in which we accelerated our transformation and the execution of our strategy. During the quarter, we announced the transaction to combine our Dutch businesses with a.s.r., a historic milestone for the company. Throughout the year we also made significant progress in improving our operating performance, and in further strengthening our balance sheet despite challenging market circumstances.

Our net result for the fourth quarter reflects the previously announced impairment loss as a result of classifying Aegon the Netherlands as held for sale. The operating result increased by 4%, as improved claims experience, the benefit from our operational improvement program and strengthening of the US dollar more than offset adverse market conditions. The operational improvement program contributed EUR 627 million to our operating result over the course of 2022, exceeding our EUR 550 million target one year earlier than expected. Given the overall success of the program, and in light of upcoming changes due to the transaction with a.s.r., we have decided to close out the reporting on the operational improvement program. We will provide an update to our strategy, including plans to further improve the efficiency of our operations and to accelerate commercial momentum at our Capital Markets Day in June 2023.
        
This year’s commercial results underscore the importance of offering customers a broad range of products. As a result of the uncertain macroeconomic environment, we saw outflows in Asset Management and in the UK Retail channel. In Workplace Solutions in the US we experienced net outflows as a consequence of the departure of one large customer. At the same time, life insurance sales grew in our growth markets and in the US, where Individual Solutions achieved the highest level of quarterly new life sales in the last five years. During 2022, the Workplace channel in the UK recorded the highest level of net deposits in the past four years, demonstrating the improvements we are making to our UK franchise. In the fourth quarter, we introduced the first phase of More Ways to Save in the UK, a new savings proposition with enhanced online services. In the US, Transamerica launched a new indexed universal life product specifically designed for the brokerage channel, complementing our current product that is successfully marketed by World Financial Group’s more than 62,000 agents. Supported by the commitment of our employees across the company, we will continue to introduce new products, improve the digital experience for our customers, and further build on our distribution strengths.

As a result of the progress we have made, both strategically and financially, we will propose a final dividend for 2022 of 12 eurocents per common share at our Annual General Meeting, bringing the full year dividend to 23 eurocents per common share. Furthermore, we are announcing a new EUR 200 million share buyback program for the first half of 2023, which underscores our disciplined capital management and commitment to returning surplus capital to our shareholders.

Looking ahead, we remain fully focused on executing our strategy and meeting our financial objectives. The actions we have taken so far provide us with confidence that we can deliver at least EUR 1.0 billion operating capital generation from our units outside of the Netherlands in 2023, barring unforeseen circumstances. We have generated EUR 1.5 billion of free cash flow during the past two years, achieving the three year target we set at the 2020 Capital Markets Day. For 2023, we aim to deliver around EUR 600 million free cash flow and are targeting an increase in our dividend to around 30 eurocents per common share, a reflection of our confidence in our strategy for the group.”

Additional information

Presentation
The conference call presentation is available on aegon.com as of 7.00 a.m. CET.

Supplements
Aegon’s 4Q 2022 Financial Supplement and other supplementary documents are available on aegon.com.

Conference call including Q&A
The conference call starts at 9:00 am CET, with an audio webcast on aegon.com. To join the conference call and/or participate in the Q&A, you will need to register via the following registration link. Directly after registration you will see your personal pin in the confirmation screen and additionally you will receive an email with the call details and again your personal pin to enter the conference call. To avoid any unforeseen connection issues, it is recommended to make use of the ‘call me’ option.

Two hours after the conference call, a replay will be available on aegon.com.

Click to join
With ‘Call me’, there is no need to dial-in. Simply click the following registration link and select the option ‘Call me’.
Enter your information and you will be called back to directly join the conference. The link becomes active 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Should you wish not to use the ‘click to join’ function, dial-in numbers are also available:

Dial-in numbers for conference call
United States: +1 864 991 41 03 (local)
United Kingdom: +44 808 175 15 36 (toll-free)
The Netherlands: +31 800 745 83 77 (toll-free)

Passcode: you will receive a personal pin upon registration 

Financial calendar 2023
IFRS 9/17 Educational Webinar – March 9, 2023
Trading update first quarter 2023 – May 17, 2023
Annual General Meeting – May 25, 2023
Capital Markets Day – June 22, 2023
First half 2023 results – August 17, 2023
Trading update third quarter 2023 – November 16, 2023

About Aegon

Aegon is an integrated, diversified, international financial services group. The company offers investment, protection, and retirement solutions, with a strategic focus on three core markets (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), three growth markets (Spain & Portugal, Brazil, and China), and one global asset manager.

Aegon's purpose of Helping people live their best lives runs through all its activities. As a leading global investor and employer, the company seeks to have a positive impact by addressing critical environmental and societal issues, with a focus on climate change and inclusion & diversity.

Aegon is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. More information can be found at aegon.com.

Cautionary note regarding non-EU-IFRS measures
This document includes the following non-EU-IFRS financial measures: operating result, income tax, result before tax, market consistent value of new business, return on equity and addressable expenses. These non-EU-IFRS measures, except for addressable expenses, are calculated by consolidating on a proportionate basis Aegon’s joint ventures and associated companies. The reconciliation of these measures, except for market consistent value of new business and return on equity, to the most comparable EU-IFRS measure is provided in the notes to this press release. Market consistent value of new business is not based on EU-IFRS, which are used to report Aegon’s primary financial statements and should not be viewed as a substitute for EU-IFRS financial measures. Aegon may define and calculate market consistent value of new business differently than other companies. Return on equity is a ratio using a non-EU-IFRS measure and is calculated by dividing the operating result after tax less cost of leverage by the average shareholders’ equity excluding the revaluation reserve. Operating expenses are all expenses associated with selling and administrative activities (excluding commissions) after reallocation of claim handling expenses to benefits paid. This includes certain expenses recorded in other charges, including restructuring charges. Addressable expenses are expenses reflected in the operating result, excluding deferrable acquisition expenses, expenses in joint ventures and associates and expenses related to operations in CEE countries. Aegon believes that these non-EU-IFRS measures, together with the EU-IFRS information, provide meaningful supplemental information about the operating results of Aegon’s business including insight into the financial measures that senior management uses in managing the business.

Local currencies and constant currency exchange rates
This document contains certain information about Aegon’s results, financial condition and revenue generating investments presented in USD for the Americas and in GBP for the United Kingdom, because those businesses operate and are managed primarily in those currencies. Certain comparative information presented on a constant currency basis eliminates the effects of changes in currency exchange rates. None of this information is a substitute for or superior to financial information about Aegon presented in EUR, which is the currency of Aegon’s primary financial statements.

Forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-looking statements: aim, believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast, goal, should, would, could, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to Aegon. These statements may contain information about financial prospects, economic conditions and trends and involve risks and uncertainties. In addition, any statements that refer to sustainability, environmental and social targets, commitments, goals, efforts and expectations and other events or circumstances that are partially dependent on future events are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation, and expressly disclaims any duty, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from expectations conveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following:

• Unexpected delays, difficulties, and expenses in executing against our environmental, climate, diversity and inclusion or other “ESG” targets, goals and commitments, and changes in laws or regulations affecting us, such as changes in data privacy, environmental, safety and health laws;
• Changes in general economic and/or governmental conditions, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
• Civil unrest, (geo-) political tensions, military action or other instability in a country or geographic region;
• Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to:         
  • The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon’s fixed income investment portfolios;
  • The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities Aegon holds;
  • The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain public sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of government exposure that Aegon holds;
• Changes in the performance of Aegon’s investment portfolio and decline in ratings of Aegon’s counterparties;
• Lowering of one or more of Aegon’s debt ratings issued by recognized rating organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on Aegon’s ability to raise capital and on its liquidity and financial condition;
• Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of Aegon’s insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the written premium, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
• The effect of the European Union’s Solvency II requirements and other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is required to maintain;
• Changes affecting interest rate levels and low or rapidly changing interest rate levels;
• Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
• Changes affecting inflation levels, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
• Changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, liquidity sources such as bank and capital markets funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets in general such as changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness;
• Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets;
• Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, including by way of example acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics, could result in material losses and significantly interrupt Aegon’s business;
• The frequency and severity of insured loss events;
• Changes affecting longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence and other factors that may impact the profitability of Aegon’s insurance products;
• Aegon’s projected results are highly sensitive to complex mathematical models of financial markets, mortality, longevity, and other dynamic systems subject to shocks and unpredictable volatility. Should assumptions to these models later prove incorrect, or should errors in those models escape the controls in place to detect them, future performance will vary from projected results;
• Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risks may fail to meet their obligations;
• Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general related to, among other things, the type of products Aegon sells, including legal, regulatory or commercial necessity to meet changing customer expectations;
• Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
• As Aegon’s operations support complex transactions and are highly dependent on the proper functioning of information technology, operational risks such as system disruptions or failures, security or data privacy breaches, cyberattacks, human error, failure to safeguard personally identifiable information, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including with respect to third parties with which we do business may disrupt Aegon’s business, damage its reputation and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;
• The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon’s ability to complete, or obtain regulatory approval for, acquisitions and divestitures, integrate acquisitions, and realize anticipated results, and its ability to separate businesses as part of divestitures;
• Aegon’s failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies, as well as other management initiatives related to cost savings, Cash Capital at Holding, gross financial leverage and free cash flow;
• Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;
• Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay significant damages or change the way Aegon does business;
• Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect profitability, the distribution cost of or demand for Aegon’s products;
• Consequences of an actual or potential break-up of the European monetary union in whole or in part, or the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union and potential consequences if other European Union countries leave the European Union;
• Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting Aegon’s operations’ ability to hire and retain key personnel, taxation of Aegon companies, the products Aegon sells, and the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers;
• Regulatory changes relating to the pensions, investment, and insurance industries in the jurisdictions in which Aegon operates;
• Standard setting initiatives of supranational standard setting bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors or changes to such standards that may have an impact on regional (such as EU), national or US federal or state level financial regulation or the application thereof to Aegon, including the designation of Aegon by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Insurer (G-SII); and
• Changes in accounting regulations and policies or a change by Aegon in applying such regulations and policies, voluntarily or otherwise, which may affect Aegon’s reported results, shareholders’ equity or regulatory capital adequacy levels.

This document contains information that qualifies, or may qualify, as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014). Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Aegon are described in its filings with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Aegon expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Aegon’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

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• 20230209 PR Aegon reports 4Q 2022 results_English