This trading week about 400 million shares were on average traded each day in the 50 Euro Stoxx companies, about 24% less than normal. We saw more or less this same trend in Ageas’s shares but to a lesser extent as volumes were ‘only’ 10% lower than the rest of the year. While looking at the volumes you might expect investors already “hit” or “took it to the beach”. And can you blame them? It is summer after all! No major share price movements were recorded in Ageas’s shares (up 0.5%) last week, contrary to the eye blinding 6.3% gain that was recorded the week before. The Stoxx Insurance Index gained 0.9% while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index was up 1.8%. Wednesday in particular was a good day for equity markets (the Euro Stoxx gained 1.5%) thanks to Janet Yellen, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, giving a supportive message that “the federal funds rate would not have to rise all that much further to get a neutral policy stance”.

Ageas’s shares ended the week at EUR 37.67. It is good to remember that at the end of last year they closed at EUR 37.61, so Ageas’s shares are back in positive territory compared to the start of the year. Good to remember also that in the meantime Ageas’s shareholders received a EUR 2.10 gross dividend. So total shareholders return (including dividend) basically amounts to 5.9%.

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Unfortunately investors will now have to start returning from the beach to their desks for the Q2 results season. As usual the Nordics (Storebrand, Tryg & Gjensidige Forsikring) already kicked off the insurance earnings season this week. Ageas will report 6M results on the 9 of August.