BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian insurer Ageas (BR:AGES) on Wednesday reported worse-than-expected results in the fourth quarter as a strong performance in Belgium could not make up for bad weather losses in Britain.
Though net profit from insurance in Belgium rose 70 percent in the fourth quarter, due to good weather and tariff increases, the group made a loss in Britain because of flooding in December and higher claims at its motor insurance arm.
Overall, net profit of the group's insurance activities fell 10 percent in the final quarter of 2015 to 142.1 million euros ($176.34 million), below the 157 million expected in a Reuters poll of four analysts.
Ageas said it would pay a dividend of 1.65 euros, broadly in line with analysts' expectations.