JPM reinstates Ageas at 'underweight' on low dividends from Asian JVs
** J.P.Morgan reinstates Belgian insurer Ageas AGES.BR at "underweight" with a PT of 40 euros, flagging low dividend payouts from its Asian joint ventures relative to earnings
** Asia accounts for around 15-20% of Ageas' free cash flow, while making up around 50% of earnings, the broker says
** It also sees little prospect of improvement for the Asian dividend policies, as Ageas has little influence over them
** JPM says Ageas' M&A strategy should help diversify its model away from its dependence on Asian JVs and address its "very low" conversion of operating profit into cash flow
** "We believe Ageas will continue to look for M&A opportunities, with a focus on cash-generative targets with synergistic potential," the broker says
** JPM keeps its forecasts broadly unchanged, with an about 0.1% negative adjustment to net result across 2024-2026, mostly to reflect market movements
** Out of 13 analysts that cover Ageas, eight rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy", two "hold" and three "strong sell" or "sell"
Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes
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