Good morning. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for being with us today. This is the general shareholders meeting of MAPFRE, S.A. We're going to begin the session. I would like to inform all of those present that the board of directors has requested the presence of Notary José María de Prada Guaita, who is seated at the table located next to the first row of the room on your left, and he will be taking minutes of the meeting. Before giving the floor to the secretary to report on the agenda, I would like to remind you that this general meeting is also being held via telematic means through the Telematic Assistance Platform set up for this purpose on the corporate website. This platform allows shareholders to exercise their rights to attend, participate, and vote.
In addition, I would like to inform you that this general meeting is being broadcast live on the Internet so that anyone interested may follow it live from anywhere in the world. I give the floor to the secretary, who will report on the agenda of the meeting and other aspects of its proceedings. Good morning. At 11:30 A.M. on March 13, 2026, the general shareholders meeting of MAPFRE, S.A. We are here in Madrid at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos del Campo de las Naciones, located at Avenida de la Capital de España, without number. On first call, the possibility of remote attendance, the general shareholders meeting of MAPFRE, S.A., convened by resolution of the board of directors on February 11, 2026. All of the members of the board of directors are present.
The announcement of the meeting was duly published on February 12, 2026 in the newspapers Expansión and Cinco Días, on the website of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission, CNMV, and through the disclosure of other regular and corporate information, and on the company's corporate website, where it has remained uninterruptedly since that date, and therefore, it is not necessary to read it again. This general shareholders meeting is chaired by Mr. Antonio Huertas Mejías. In his capacity as chairman of the board of directors and secretary of the aforementioned body, myself act as secretary. Together, we make up the presiding committee of this general meeting. In summary, the agenda for today's meeting includes the following items. First, approval of the annual accounts and management reports, application of results, and corporate governance for the 2025 fiscal year. Second, ratification and re-election of directors.
Third, amendment of the articles of association. Fourth, approval of the annual report on directors' remuneration for the 2025 fiscal year. Fifth, authorization for the acquisition of treasury shares. Sixth, approval and payment of the dividend for shareholders at the general meeting. Seventh, delegation of powers to formalize the resolutions adopted by the general meeting. The proposed resolutions formulated by the board of directors and corresponding reports have been available on the corporate website since the date of publication of the call notice.
Shareholders present here who wish to vote against or abstain from any of the proposed resolutions included in the agenda must go, before I finish reading the aforementioned proposals for agreement, to the table located next to the first row of the room on your left, and you must identify yourselves with your national identity card before the notary so that he can record this in the minutes. Shareholders participating via remote who wish to also vote against or abstain from voting on any of the proposed resolutions may do so until the reading of the aforementioned proposed resolutions via the Vote link on the Remote Assistance Platform set up for this purpose on the corporate website.
In any case, I would like to inform you that we have processed the votes cast remotely, and in the case of proxies, the voting intentions regarding the various proposals for resolutions, all of which will be provided to the notary. Furthermore, I would like to remind you that shareholders who attend in person and wish to speak must identify themselves and register in advance with the notary and provide the notary with a written text of their speech if they wish it to be recorded verbatim in the notarial minutes. Shareholders and proxies attending via remote and who have expressed their desire to participate must send their comments in writing via the Comments link on the Remote Attendance Platform, and this before the comments session begins, expressly stating their wish for these to be recorded in the minutes, should that be the case.
All valid interventions will be read in full or in summary and answered at this general meeting or responded to in writing within seven days of their meeting. The list of attendees has been drawn up, showing that shareholders holding shares in attendance, either in person or proxy, 2.614768741 shares. The quorum is 84.91% of the share capital. This is sufficient for the valid constitution of the general meeting on first call and to deal with all of the items on today's agenda. The valid constitution of this general meeting on first call is therefore confirmed. I give the floor now to the notary, who will make the legally established statements.
Good morning. In compliance with commercial law, I ask this assembly if there are any reservations or objections regarding the chairman's statements concerning the number of shareholders attending the general meeting and the capital in person or by proxy. Shareholders and their representatives who wish to express reservations or objections may do so, in the case of those attending in person, by approaching my table and recording their objection, and in the case of those attending via remote, by clicking on the Register Objection link on the remote attendance platform. Thank you. Next, Mr. José Luis Jiménez Guajardo-Fajardo, Guajardo-Fajardo, Chief Financial Officer of MAPFRE, will address you, and he will report on the main figures of the consolidated annual accounts for the 2025 financial year and the group's most significant achievements and projects in the economic and financial spheres during 2025. Take it away.
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good morning. The financial information that I'm going to refer to, presented for approval at this meeting, is reported in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, which is how we prepare our accounts as a listed company. At the end of my presentation, I will also provide you with the most relevant data on our operations under the accounting standards applicable in each country. In any case, regardless of the criteria applied and despite the impact we've had due to currency movements, today we are presenting premium and earnings indicators that set a new historical record for MAPFRE. On the screen, you can see the three financial figures that represent the company's turnover. For comparison purposes, you have the insurance and reinsurance premiums, which amount to EUR 29.1 billion with a growth of 3.8%.
Total revenues, which amount to EUR 34.5 billion, grew by 4% and include, in addition to premiums, revenues from investments and other non-insurance activities. As I mentioned, these two figures are presented under local accounting principles. Insurance service income is a figure based on international accounting principles. This metric, which amounts to EUR 26.35 billion, an increase of 3.3%, is similar to direct insurance and accepted reinsurance premiums. Here are the key figures for 2025 under IFRS criteria in which we'd like to highlight the increase in profitability, with net profit exceeding EUR 1 billion for the first time in gross profit before taxes and external partners exceeded EUR 2.5 billion.
There is therefore a very satisfactory result that we are pleased to share with our more than 150,000 shareholders, who will receive more than EUR 500 million in 2025. Insurance service revenues amounted to EUR 26.35 billion, thanks to the strong performance of the business and the technical measures implemented in recent years. LatAm contributed nearly EUR 9.5 billion, in line with the previous years and despite currency depreciation. I would like to highlight Brazil, which accounts for nearly 50% of the region's revenue. On the other hand, MAPFRE RE exceeds EUR 8.3 billion, with Iberia reaching $7.8 billion with an increase of 4.8%. Finally, North America and EMEA contribute EUR 2.6 billion and EUR 1.3 billion respectively. Next, I will describe the breakdown of profits.
In addition to the insurance service income that I mentioned earlier, insurance service expenses mainly include benefits and acquisition costs, and these amount to EUR 22.2 billion. Reinsurance services, which include ceded premiums and claims and commissions income, represent the cost of our reinsurance protection amounting to EUR 1.9 billion. These three items combined contribute to an insurance and reinsurance result of EUR 2.1 billion. The net financial result amounts to EUR 1.015 billion, and other results include, among others, exchange rate differences, holding company expenses, and consolidation adjustments. The aggregate effect of all these components yields a profit before taxes and minority interests of EUR 2.5 billion. After excluding taxes and allocating the profit share to shareholders, the attributable result reaches EUR 1.1 billion, 17% more than in the previous year.
These figures include the partial impairment of goodwill in Mexico and the cancellation of deferred tax assets in Italy and Germany in the third quarter, amounting to EUR 79 million, and this has no impact on MAPFRE's cash generation or solvency or its ability to pay dividends. Excluding these impacts, the result would amount to EUR 1.2 billion. I will now comment on the main figures of the balance sheet. Total assets grew by 3.2% to EUR 58.5 billion, mainly due to the increase in investment portfolios, insurance contract liabilities, similar to technical provisions, and other concepts. As a technical provision increased by 1.9% to EUR 40.5 billion. The investment figure was also driven by business growth and an improvement in the valuation of the portfolio. It rose by 5.8% and reached EUR 48.2 billion.
As for attributable equity, it stood at EUR 9.4 billion, an increase of 5.9%. With regard to the evolution of attributable equity, the first two components for profit for the year and dividends are the usual items that underpin changes in equity. The other column mainly includes changes in the value of certain investments, as well as other differences for a net amount that reduces our capital figure by EUR 104 million. In relation to return on equity, ROE stands at 12.4% and would exceed 13.3% excluding the extraordinary adjustments for the year. Here you have the information on investments, including real estate and cash. We have a very prudent investment policy focused on liquid, diversified, and high-quality investments.
Most of the portfolio consists of fixed income securities and similar assets, accounting for more than 75% of the total. On the right is Mapfre's position in public debt, with more than EUR 23 billion, of which EUR 9 billion is invested in Spanish public debt. This is the composition of the capital structure, with more than EUR 13.1 billion distributed among equity, which accounts for 80% of the total senior debt, subordinated debt, and bank debt. Debt ratio remains at very low levels, around 20%. Solvency ratio, based on September data from September 2025, remains at very solid levels of 210.4%, more than double the minimum requirement. 84.2% of our capital is of the highest quality or Tier 1.
Provisional solvency data for December 2025 should not show any significant changes from those reported previously. As I mentioned at the beginning of my presentation, allow me to make a quick overview of Mapfre's performance in accordance with the accounting principles in force in each country. Premiums stand at EUR 29.1 billion, with a growth of 3.6%. At constant exchange rates, premiums would have grown at 7.8%. Total revenues are above EUR 34.5 billion. The group's attributable profit reached EUR 1 billion, an increase of 19.6% over the previous year. This result is based on technical improvement in all regions and lines of business, and this is reflected in a combined ratio of 92.2%, the best since the historical series began.
Here you can see the distribution of premiums and the evolution of combined ratios by line of business. Non-life premiums amounted to EUR 22.4 billion, while life premiums approached EUR 6.7 billion, with a growth of 1.5% and 11.6% respectively, or 6% and 14.7% at constant exchange rates. All lines of business grew solidly, with notable growth in life savings as a result of our strategy to boost the financial business. In terms of combined ratios, general insurance at 80.2% performed exceptionally well, with a decrease of 0.7% based on technical rigor and the absence of major catastrophic events throughout the year.
What's important here is the great stability of the last three years, with widespread improvement in all relevant markets, with Brazil being the market with the most notable technical profitability. Automobiles continues to show improvements in the ratio, and we have managed to recover profitability, reaching 99.8%. We have therefore met our forecast of achieving technical equilibrium, which we announced a few quarters ago, with improvements in all markets, but particularly in Iberia, where it stood at 98.5%, 6.9% below the previous year. Health and accidents also performed well, reaching 98.3%, with Iberia at 94.2%. Finally, the life risk ratio is very stable at highly profitable levels of 85%. Overall, we have a combined ratio below 94% and therefore improving on the target set out in strategic plan.
I will now discuss MAPFRE's shareholding structure and stock market information. As of December 31, 2025, MAPFRE had close to 152,000 shareholders who owned more than 3 billion outstanding shares. As you know, MAPFRE's majority shareholder is Fundación MAPFRE with 69.7% of the capital. A reminder, 18.7% belongs to institutional shareholders, mainly foreign, while individual shareholders who represent 11.1% are almost entirely Spanish. Finally, MAPFRE has 15 million treasury shares equivalent to 0.5% of the capital. Here you can see MAPFRE's stock market performance. The shares ended the year up at a price of EUR 4.28 per share, equivalent to a market capitalization of almost EUR 13.2 billion.
Last year, the share price rose by more than 75%, significantly outperforming IBEX 35 in the EURO STOXX Insurance Index, which brings together the main insurance companies in the Eurozone. If we add the dividend yield to the stock market appreciation, the total return for shareholders exceeds 80%. As you have seen in the first weeks of the year, we suffered a correction in line with the sector as a whole, conditioned by the geopolitical uncertainty that is significantly affecting the financial markets. In any case, the figures that I just showed demonstrate the strength of the company and the profitability of our business model. With regard to stock market indicators, earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.37 .
The P/E as of December 2025 was 11.6x, which means that the market has valued Mapfre at more than 11x its annual earnings. On the other hand, the price-to-book value ratio stood at 140%. In short, and to conclude, both under IFRS and local accounting standards, the accounts show record business figures and significant progress in technical management. This allows us to face 2026 with optimism. That's all from me. Thank you very much for your attention and for the trust you place in the group.
Thank you. Thank you very much, José Luis. Thank you very much for that very interesting address. I now give the floor to Mr. José Manuel Inchausti Pérez, first vice president of Mapfre, who will present other relevant facts and actions of the group that took place during the 2025 financial year.
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good morning. The Chief Financial Officer and Director of Mapfre, José Luis Jiménez, has presented the figures for the 2025 financial year. It is up to me to share with you a more qualitative address of what has been done and to comment on some aspects that doubtless would explain having been able to close a year for the second time, and in a row, as the best in the history of Mapfre. All of the information is available in the documentation that has been distributed for this meeting.
I am going to share the more relevant reading. Let me start with the main engine that the company has: the human one. The ultimate recipients of everything we do are our customers. That's who we look at. None of what has been achieved could have been achieved without the group's more than 30,500 employees and the more than 200,000 mediators, suppliers, vendors, and collaborators who make our activity possible every day from almost 40 countries around the world. For those of us who work at MAPFRE, our time makes sense.
We manage our people's talent through a very demanding training program that allows all employees to access at least once a year one of the modules that are taught at our corporate university, both in person on the campuses we have in São Paulo, Mexico, and Madrid, and through the online campus. At this point, we have talent from five generations of employees, 86 different nationalities, who enrich the company with their experience and knowledge. This diversity is bolstered by a very intense look at all kinds of realities. We're proud that the percentage of persons with disabilities who work with us continues to grow year after year. At this point, we have already reached 4.2% of our workforce, and we deem ourselves lucky to have these coworkers with us on a daily basis.
We've continued to make good progress in the onboarding of women into management positions. That percentage is 35.4%. On screen, you see the great progress achieved over the past decade. The commitment to Mapfre's values, to our culture, to our way of doing things which our customers and society so much value, is evident in something that I already addressed last year, but which I want to again vindicate. Half of Mapfre's workforce in Spain are also shareholders. Finally, and this is something that is acknowledged externally, I wanted to underscore the high percentage of employees who are committed to the company's culture.
Specifically. Out of 10, eight identify with our corporate purpose, which we summarize in the sentence, "We take care of what matters to you." I believe that in a record year, the effort and professional commitment of the company's human engine, our Mapfre employees, mediators, collaborators, and suppliers deserve applause from the management team, and I hope also from you. We hear the applause.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Talent and diversity are, without a doubt, elements that do define our workforce. But what I would like to emphasize above and beyond all is our commitment to others, especially those who most need us. Mapfre's corporate volunteering program has once again registered an all-time record. Last year, more than 10,600 employees and their families generously participated in the 2,500 solidary activities that were carried out in 26 different countries.
Every day, somewhere in the world, seven MAPFRE activities have taken place involving our volunteers, and this has allowed us to reach out and help more than 173,000 persons. You won't find many companies in which one out of every three employees are volunteers, and let's see them now in action. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Fantastic, fantastic work. You know, many of these volunteer programs are carried out, and they're coordinated by Fundación MAPFRE, our most important shareholder. They've successfully completed its first 50 years of activity. I cannot fail to mention that each day last year, Fundación MAPFRE held 80 events aimed at helping people in any one of the almost 30 countries where it operates. Its work has contributed to improving the lives of almost 7 million people.
As of 2022, furthermore, Fundación MAPFRE is one of the very few Spanish entities selected as an intermediate body of the European Social Fund Plus. As of that date, two calls have been launched that have made it possible to allocate almost EUR 24 million to employment opportunities generation and to improving access to social and health services for dependent people or people with chronic diseases who reside in towns of less than 30,000 inhabitants in Spain. This is a truly transformational project in an area where it is really essential to stay close to people and their needs in the rural world. Furthermore, Fundación MAPFRE, reinforcing its vocation for less populated Spain and the rural world, this year launched the Iberian Network of Foundations.
This is a powerful initiative to structure the territory to help develop the numerous small and medium-sized foundations that exist by the Ruta de la Plata in Spain and Portugal alike. They generate activity and value in their field of action, and for different reasons, do not have all the necessary capabilities. I would like to again convey our pride in the work that has been done and continues to be done every day for half a century, 50 years, at Fundación Mapfre. Thank you. Thank you. Now, the second engine of our activity is the technological motor. Technology is a fundamental pillar for us. This year, we've consolidated a strategy that reinforces our operations' resilience, boosts efficiency and process automation, and above all, improves the customers' and mediators' experience. Our ecosystem of REEF platforms continues to be deployed.
We've onboarded new functionalities, expanded self-service capacities, and promoted their implementation, which is making strong progress in Latin America and is already operational, fully or partially, in countries such as Panama, Uruguay, Honduras, and Spain. I also want to highlight the constitution of technological development hubs in Brazil, Colombia, and Spain, which allow us to move forward in a more coordinated and efficient way. We're also executing powerful technological transformation programs in Spain, the U.S., and Germany. No less important than REEF is our Atenea data platform. This is a highly mature solution which allows us to extract all the value from data in our main operations while guaranteeing a safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Finally, in cybersecurity, we continue to strengthen our tech system because we need to face the growing threats against our operations security, and we need to improve our resilience capacity with a comprehensive security model. In 2025, we scored 760 points in the well-known BitSight Cybersecurity Index. We improved by 40 points our 2024 score, and this places us in the group of most solid financial institutions. In a nutshell, technology is today a key pillar to improve efficiency, strengthen group solidarity, and ensure sustainable growth and long-term value creation. At Mapfre, we remain firmly committed to excellence in each of the channels we make available to clients and intermediaries. Thus, in 2025, we've perfected our multi-channel service models. We offer agile and accessible self-managed channels as well as assisted channels that guarantee customer proximity.
All these developments have allowed us to promote the digitization of our services. We reached 77% of self-managed contacts, improving by 3 points the numbers of 2024. As a result, our customer perception of our car insurance service has improved in most of the countries where we actually carry out this measurement activity. The huge transformation undertaken has also allowed 2025 be the best year in history in digital business. We have 4 brands with which we operate, Mapfre, Verti, MAWDY, and Savia. The digital business has grown by 14.46%. Ladies and gentlemen, at the previous shareholders meeting, I presented to you Mapfre's artificial intelligence manifesto. This is a commitment by which, in essence, we guarantee that AI is now and will be at the service of people and not the other way around.
We continue to make progress on the internal governance framework on safeguards to ensure controlled AI at the service of our objectives, and we have committed publicly that we will not use AI to undertake workforce reductions, but to improve the capabilities of our employees and collaborators. Through our artificial intelligence center, which was created just a year ago, we've developed more than 150 use cases. That's 36% more than the previous year. 1/3 correspond to GenAI, which is aimed at improving our employees' and collaborators' productivity and capabilities via virtual assistants and content generation solutions. Our goal is not only to develop new use cases, but to turn them into accelerators capable of being replicated in different countries quickly and reliably. We've also continued to roll out a global data quality strategy.
We've implemented it in 28 countries by 2025, and all possible thanks to the efforts made in the fields of training and dissemination. More than 4,500 employees have received training in AI, reinforcing the group's capabilities to face the challenges that await. Everything we do in AI, tech, and operations has one thing in common: our customers. During the year, progress has continued to be made in improving CX and satisfaction, as well as promoting initiatives aimed at strengthening loyalty and engagement. A key pillar has been the promotion of the use of AI with predictive models active in different countries to strengthen retention and to promote cross-selling. These use cases, together with the promotion of data as a strategic asset, have allowed us to lay the foundations to continue advancing in personalized value propositions for each one of our clients.
Now let me talk about innovation. Innovation is a key element in the development of Mapfre. In 2025, we consolidated our innovation model, which today is a strategic lever for the company. There are already more than 5 million customers who have benefited from innovative solutions, generating value for the business and for the customers themselves. In 2025, we collaborated with more than 50 startups, thus consolidating Mapfre's relationship with entrepreneurs in the insurance sector and our role as benchmark in the insurance innovation environment. We've made progress in key areas for the future of the sector, longevity, new social realities, climate risks, mobility, new distribution channels. At the same time, we've innovated in life and health. We've explored the ecosystem model for home and auto and adopted intelligent solutions to support channels and subscription.
In 2025, our Center for Experimentation and Road Safety, CESVIMAP, has also made significant progress in terms of safe mobility, expert analysis, and the application of emerging technologies. The third major driver at Mapfre is sustainability, and this is a commitment that is not new. It's been taking place for decades. Despite the fact that it has been a complicated year for sustainability, we've continued to develop our ESG strategy, and we've advanced in all our public commitments, providing solutions for mitigation and adaptation to climate change from the business proper. We promote actions to close the insurance gap, increase quality employment, inclusion of diverse groups, and equal opportunities, among other actions. We've met 100% of the objectives that were forecast in our sustainability plan for 2025. We've reduced the group's carbon footprint by 24%.
We're now neutral in 13/13 countries, and more than 93% of our investments are ESG-rated. We continue to work on financial and insurance education as a way to increase our citizens' knowledge of our activity. We are very concerned about people's lack of access to insurance protection because this allows for lives and projects to be stabilized. In this regard, in 2025, we rolled out the A Tu Lado initiative, By Your Side, promoting the development of products and services that facilitate access to insurance for lower-income segments of the population. This is an initiative which is on offer in Colombia and Brazil, and the reception has been excellent. Our intention is to add countries in the region because the insurance protection gap in LATAM exceeds $316 billion.
Now, as to our commitment to homologate suppliers with sustainability criteria, by 2025, we have reached nearly 19,400 suppliers who are qualified in accordance with ESG criteria. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, you also have access to a document, Hechos para Compromiso, Made for Commitment, where the information I've just referred to is at your disposal. In general, also at your disposal is the work of the company, everything that we do for the benefit of our shareholders, as always, collected with maximum transparency. All of these advances are increasingly better perceived and appreciated by our stakeholders. We are in most of the main indices and commitments where global companies have to be. Let me highlight just three recognitions. We are in the very demanding 5% of insurers with best sustainability performance selected by S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook.
We are among the 500 most valuable brands in the world. We're the only Spanish insurance company to be included in the Brand Finance top 500, and Merco ranking places us in the top 5 of most responsible companies in Spain. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, as you have seen, the magnificent evolution of the group's economic results has been accompanied by a profound transformation process. We see an improvement in the quality of service, an intensive use of technology, and above all, the commitment and loyalty of the persons who together are writing the history of Mapfre. Thank you very much for your attention and for the trust you place in us.
Thank you very much, José Manuel, for adding that information, that very interesting vision of all of these activities, which do have very much to do with our financial activities.
The proposed resolutions have been published on the corporate website since this date of publication of the notice of meeting. However, I would like to briefly refer to some of them. It is proposed to this general meeting that a supplementary dividend of EUR 0.11 gross per share be distributed. Considering the current number of shares outstanding, the total payout for this supplementary dividend would amount to EUR 338.8 million. The interim dividend for the company's 2025 financial year, paid last November, was EUR 0.07 gross per share and amounted to a total of EUR 215.6 million.
Consequently, the sum of the interim and supplementary dividends for the 2025 financial year results in a gross payment of EUR 0.18 per share, 12.5% higher than that paid for the 2024 financial year, a total amount paid in dividends for the 2025 financial year of EUR 554.3 million, and a payout of 51.4% in 2025. This ambitious dividend proposal has been put forward by the board of directors within the framework of the shareholders' remuneration policy, and once again, it sets a new record as it is the highest dividend in Mapfre's history.
With regard to the composition of the board of directors, my re-election as an executive director for a new four-year term is submitted for approval by this general shareholders' meeting, following a favorable report from the Appointments and Remuneration Committee and the board of directors. In addition, the re-election of Ms. María del Pilar Perales Viscasillas as an independent director for a new four-year term is proposed. On the other hand, the ratification of the appointment as independent director of Ms. María de los Ángeles Santamaría Martín.
Who was appointed by co-optation on June 25, 2025, with effect from October 30 of said year, and her reelection to that position for a period of 4 years as well. These last two proposals have been submitted to the board of directors by the Appointments and Remuneration Committee. Thirdly, it is proposed to amend the bylaws in order to, among other purposes, reflect a commitment made by the board of directors that more than half of its members will be independent, as has been the case in the company for some time now. Clarify that all external directors, regardless of whether they previously held executive positions, will have the same term limit on the board of directors. This is 3 years or 12 consecutive years from the date they become external directors. Also includes certain clarifications and other formal improvements.
It is also proposed to renew the authorization granted to the board of directors for the derivative acquisition of the company's own shares. In accordance with the recommendations of the Code of Good Governance for Listed Companies by the CNMV, I would like to mention that for the first time, the annual report on directors' remuneration and the annual corporate governance report has been prepared in a freely designed format to make them easier to read and reinforce the transparency of the company's corporate governance.
The second of these documents describes in detail the thorough extensive reviews and update of the corporate governance system carried out by the board of directors, in line with Mapfre's commitment to best practices in good governance, business ethics, and social responsibility. Secondly, with regard to the monitoring of the recommendations of the Good Governance Code for 2025, the company complied with 56 out of the 60 recommendations applicable thereto, two more than in the previous years. This represents a compliance rate of over 93%. Now I will explain the reasons why Mapfre S.A. didn't fully comply with four of the recommendations of the aforementioned code in the fiscal year 2025. First, with regard to recommendation 34, the company complies with the entire recommendation except for the attribution of powers to the coordinating director.
For example, that the one that has to do with coordinating the succession of the chairman, a function that is attributed to the Appointments and Remuneration Committee. Secondly, maintaining contact with investors and shareholders, as the board of directors itself is responsible for establishing and supervising appropriate mechanisms for communication and relations with them, and may delegate these powers to its committees or to its president, as well as to the executives, professionals, or other internal bodies deemed appropriate for such purpose. The company considers that this provides a better coordination of the relationships of the company with its investors and advisors. Secondly, regarding recommendation 48 on the existence of separate appointment on remuneration committees, Mapfre considers it appropriate to keep the powers relating to appointments and remuneration together in the same committee.
As these matters are closely linked and because the knowledge and experience of the current members in the Appointments and Remuneration Committee are ideal for analyzing both aspects jointly. Third, with regard to recommendation 62 on directors holding shares, options or financial instruments from remuneration systems for a minimum of 3 years, Mapfre considers the obligation to hold the shares for a maximum period of 2 years to be adequate and sufficient, as the delivery of the shares is also subject to a 60% deferral over a period of 3 years by third parties. Finally, with regard to recommendation 64 on payments for the termination or expiration of directors' contracts, the termination of the position of executive directors entails the lifting of the suspension of their relationship prior to their appointment as such.
For this reason, if this prior relationship is terminated early, compensation shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of the Workers' Statute for cases of unfair dismissal, only unless there is a justified cause for a dismissal. In the case of some executive directors who have employment contracts prior to December 2012, and therefore well before the formulation of this recommendation in the Code of Good Governance for Listed Companies, the compensation could be greater than two years' salary. In the case of external directors, there is no compensation as a result of termination of office. In accordance with the provisions of the regulations contained in a general shareholders meeting, we will now open the floor for comments from attendees who have requested to speak. We kindly ask
Shareholders to limit their comments to the five minutes that were established in the regulation in order to facilitate the progress of the meeting. At this point, three attendees have asked to take the floor, and there are no remote requests. These persons will speak in order, and since there are no interventions online, they will read them as they are called. Once we have concluded all these interventions, we will provide the clarifications or informations that are requested or that are necessary, and if we cannot answer any of their questions, they will be replied in writing within seven days. I now give the floor to Mr. Don Luis de la Prada Espinosa de los Monteros. He has requested the floor.
Buenos días. Good day. Mr. Chair, this is the final year of the company's strategic plan.
What can we expect from MAPFRE in 2026? What is MAPFRE's longer-term ambition? Another question is, as Mr. Jiménez pointed out, doubtless geopolitical realities now is going to have an effect on companies and on the economy in the future. What is MAPFRE's exposure level? What is the company doing to prepare itself in the face of these potential difficulties? Finally, business indicators for 2025 are positive practically with regards all of the activities and territories that are included in the MAPFRE sphere. So what would you say are priority if you're thinking about possible acquisitions or possible disinvestment?
Let me answer Don Luis by saying thank you, and let me assure you that we will respond at the end of all of the questions being posed. Now, Don Jesús Nielas Fernández.
Good morning.
My question has to do with the change in the statutes, but I just heard you, sir, and I think that you've already answered. I would like to say congratulations to all of you for the periodical meetings that you schedule with small shareholders. Thank you for continuing to call those meetings, because we feel closer to society, to the company, and to shareholders.
Let me answer, Don Jesús. Thank you. I'm happy to hear that you agree that we've given sufficient explanation regarding changes in the statutes. The modifications really are not substantial. Especially thank you. Thank you for acknowledging the hard work that we are, in fact, carrying out, because we do want to be closer to as many shareholders as possible.
Shareholders, of course, who want to meet up with our experts, with our management, above and beyond the yearly GSM. Because, yes, we do want to be closer to you, and we do want to have an ongoing relationship. I think you're all aware of the fact that this is what this board wants to achieve. We want to be there. We want to facilitate that active participation throughout the year. We want to have that very close working, if you will, relationship, shareholders with management of the company. Thank you. Thank you indeed, sir. Thank you very much. Rest assured that we will continue to do our utmost. Thank you. Third, shareholder Rolando Alberto Ortega Gutierrez has a question to ask. When you will, sir.
Thank you. Good morning. Mr. Chair, all of the directors who have addressed us have talked about 2025, and they've said a magnificent year, record-breaking results. What are the engines that you would define as structural? So the lesser claims, lesser catastrophes, what part of the growth is sustainable when we think about 2026 and 2027? Finally, I would appreciate it very much, sir, if you could forecast whether MAPFRE is thinking about changing in view of AI and in view of the appearance of new tech players. Or do you think the company is going to be adjusting its payroll on the basis, in fact, of AI?
Thank you, sir. I now am going to respond to those two questions that have been made. I would like to thank you, gentlemen, for having addressed these issues. You ask about the strategy of group.
I think that I will be addressing these issues afterwards, of course, during my closing session. Let me just provide an initial quick response to your question. What can we expect of MAPFRE in 2026? Well, we don't have a crystal ball to gaze into, do we? We'll be talking afterwards about the complexities of our reality, the reality of the setting. Yes, of course, we had addressed that in our end-of-year analysis when we were preparing for 2026. In any case, I would like to assure you that MAPFRE is strong. MAPFRE. As we've explained on repeated occasions, we do believe that MAPFRE is at a point in time in which insurance activity and MAPFRE activity the world over is nicely balanced, nicely diversified, and enjoys an excellent development of our technical capabilities.
All I can do is say that my forecast is for a good 2026. Of course, yes, we do have to keep the circumstances in mind, and I'll go into that afterwards. As to the long term, as to the future, well, of course, it's affected by the short term and what is happening now in some parts of the world. What's happening now, as I say, is, I can only define as unforeseeable. We don't have, information as to what is going to happen, not only to Mapfre, but to the insurance, activity in general and economic reality in Spain and over the rest of the world. I would want to assure you that Mapfre is looking at a three-year horizon.
This is in fact a year in which we will have to think about what we will be addressing in next year's GSM. We will have to have that additional three-year plan, and we will have to onboard on that those essential elements that are characteristic of Mapfre. First, we are a benchmark. I think we are a benchmark company in the world. We are important in Spain, but we are huge in Latin America and in other parts of the world, as well. We also are very, very active in the field of reinsurance of major risks, which ensures that we are very close to that privileged spot, the group of 10 leading insurance companies in the world, top 10, and a part of that excellent group, as I say, of leading insurance companies in the world.
We are in that group, and we want to continue to be not only profitable, but also efficient. We are profitable, we are efficient, and anything we do along those lines with every single one of the contributions that technology and transformation and the commitment of our teams, all of that is what allows us to continue to evolve and continue to improve that efficiency. Because at the end of the day, it is the customer who most benefits if the products and the services are good and at affordable prices, frankly. I think it's also important to address another issue. This is a thought which the board devotes time to. This is an issue that management focuses on, and it is continue to work with solid business partners. We want to have more business partners the world over.
We want to have more allies, all manner of allies. Allies who will help us add value and who in turn will also benefit from what Mapfre has to offer. This is absolutely essential if you think about what Mapfre is keen to do in the upcoming years. To wrap up these thoughts that I'm sharing with you, I think that we are different. We are a social group that is committed and engaged. We worry about people. We keep people in, as I say, top of mind. We want to continue to be responsible sustainably and in a committed manner with the environment.
As to how we may be affected by everything that is changing in our environment, in our setting, well, as our CFO has just shared with us, we know where we are geographically, and we know that we leave a footprint that is more than satisfactory. We're very happy. We feel that we are doing what we need to do in the geographies where we have a presence. Of course, this will be conditioned forward-looking by the settings that we are witness to and the realities that we are witness to. Mapfre is a company that I really believe can aspire to more. We want to be more present in other markets, but we have to be fully aware of the moment and of the circumstances that we find ourselves in. We've often enough explained what our geographical ambitions are.
We want to continue to grow in weight. Of course, the United States, of course, Brazil, of course, Mexico, and a couple of other countries as well. We want to further bolster the presence and activities that the group already carries out. I think it's not just wanting to be bigger. We do want to be bigger because we're ambitious, but what we want is better results and even greater degrees of accountability. As to Mapfre's exposure levels and how we gird ourselves in the face of these realities that affect us, well, doubtless, we have tracked on a daily basis with concern and accessing information, thoughts and contributions of ideas and studies that we receive from our different business areas, but also those that we receive from our own study service, Mapfre Economics, the technical analyses of those different exposure levels.
I can assure you that in those areas where conflict rages in the Middle East at this point in time, our activities are minimal there. We have no insurance presence there, and our reinsurance activity in that part of the world is tiny. I would actually say practically nonexistent, and we're talking about major risk. Yes, technical decisions have had to be taken, but they're the standard when there are conflicts that rage. War is explicitly excluded from insurance contracts, and those exclusions are further bolstered when there's a new area which was not in conflict, where there was no war. That would be the Gulf in this case, the Middle East in this case, which suddenly we see a flare-up and the conflict rages and thus those coverages are no longer in force.
We believe that in the short term, if you think about the conflict that rages now, I do not foresee major exposure levels. In any case, the group is active, the group is comprehensive in its assessment, and definitely any decision taken will be taken in a very focused way. My final series of thoughts addressing Mr. Ruiz de Loprata's comments, geographical areas that are priority. Well, I think I've already answered because I did say that basically we're looking at offsetting and achieving that balance. We've said this on previous occasions. We also want to limit our exposure to currency. We are global. We operate in a multiplicity of different currencies. We have a strong business presence in the Eurozone, and we are also exposed in the US dollar and the Brazilian real.
Well, the dollar has been volatile this year, interestingly enough, and so have other currencies from other countries. We've seen that very important effect as Mr. Jiménez warned us of. We see our activities in euros, and that's why we'd like to invest more in other parts of the world where the currency is a little bit more solid, more robust. I'm not going to make any specific statement because this is not something we're looking to achieve immediately. In any case, we do believe that there are areas where more growth can happen, so we need to think about partners. We need to think about distribution channels, partners in Spain.
We need to think about banking in Spain and Latin America in order to offset that lesser component of our life sector in Latin America, I repeat. I'll make a reference to this afterwards. The advisory services, which in Spain fundamentally, but also in Brazil and in other countries, a chapter that we're looking at. We're going to continue to be cautious because it's a difficult setting. Our diversified model, we believe, is one that guarantees sufficient safety and security.
As to strike that balance, we will be able to overcome those difficulties that we witness now, and which in the future will have us rebuilding our presence, our activity in some products that may be affected because of the side effects, if you will, of the conflict, because we're not directly involved. A possible inflation hike or changes in rates, well, that definitely would affect us in our decision-taking when we think about strategies. There was that other question. I believe that Mr. Jesús Nielas had said that we had provided an answer to that already. I would then address Mr. Ortega Gutierrez's comments. He shares his thoughts, and he poses three questions specifically.
One of the questions is how to structure the results and, what are we thinking we will be seeing in our activities to be carried out after this year. I think that's the first part. I can say, I do say actually, that practically everything is structural. When we talk about the underlying result, that solid platform, well, it's very much a presence. Even in the most difficult times during past crises, remember the financial crisis in 2008, which lasted until 2018, 2019, the pandemic and the underlying consequences which have trailed until about two years ago, and then situations that have come to the surface over the past 24 months because of geopolitics, which in turn result from the protectionist and tariff activities carried out by some governments.
Well, this has definitely affected our economic activities and consumption, but we have been steadfast. Of course, there have been times when we've been stronger, when we've been weaker because of interest rates. In any case, in Mapfre, the underlying has been very solid, and this I think is what would explain the strength of the factors which will continue to add value to the development and progress to be achieved by our group. Yes, I acknowledge that we work in the insurance field, and insurance is equal to risks, and you cannot forecast risks. You can try to quantify, you can try to fine-tune the information, but it's very difficult to really say, "I'm spot on," especially more straightforward risks.
Well, those we do, we do feel able, with our prudent policy and in view of our reserves, we can have a forecast as to what will be happening, and that we heard about the IFRS model that, our colleague addressed. We can forecast foreseeable losses for the upcoming years, so that's discounted, and that is what allows us to forecast what the earnings are going to be. The results are going to be very solid. There are other types of risks which are extremely difficult to forecast. That is, the nature of the beast, as they say, and I'm talking about catastrophes, which basically affect reinsurance and major global risks. These are two very, very important units for Mapfre, and we see there that catastrophes in is important.
When we talk about protection, every one of our companies, I think is well prepared. We've seen this over the past three decades. There have been huge events. Some have been weather-based, others have been the result of earthquakes or floods that have affected the real estate in some countries. We've been very solid, and we have proven that despite the fact that these were one-offs, we are well prepared. Last year in February, if you remember, the California wildfires, that was the most important fire of humankind. Over $50 billion were the damages in California. MAPFRE RE, MAPFRE Reinsurance had a stake, a very important stake, but definitely the unit's results were not threatened. You saw that in 2025, that's been the most solid ever.
I think that when we talk about structural, well, we can talk about technical development and the discipline itself. We're disciplined in the way we manage capital. Our solvency, you saw that, is times two. Our commitment, diversification. Diversification, we've been talking about it, which is always so very, very important. It's because insurance calls for diversification. It's the mutualization of risk. It is the stretching out, the dissemination in order to guarantee the further sustainability of the insurance activities. Here, yes, I can say that Mapfre, and there's no doubt about this, is the Spanish insurance company that is most diversified of all, and therefore the one that is most protected in the face of potential future non-structural events that might happen in the upcoming years.
I think that it's fair to say that, yes, there is sustainability, and yes, if we think about fiscal years 2026 and 2027, to answer the shareholder's question, I don't think that we should anticipate major changes in our earnings or in our results that would reflect any possible impairment. No. I think that it will be improvements rather that will allow us to guarantee the furtherance of those results. Now as to growth, well, volatility of currency is very important, and our hard commercial work is tremendous in every single one of the units in the different geographies. When we see the information in euros, it doesn't seem to be that brilliant, but I can say that growing customers in most of the countries definitely is. Finally, a very interesting question which I think Mr.
Inchausti referred to when addressing AI. The sudden appearance, we have been flooded by AI. Citizens have taken to AI. Organizations have taken to AI. We at Mapfre are doing everything we can also to onboard it onto our daily lives and how it is going to change our traditional model. Well, in February, before we talked about our earnings, there was this news in the world where a little startup, a Spanish startup, promised or hinted at major disruptions taking place in the distribution of insurances because there was an AI tool that would practically eliminate intermediaries, so it would no longer be necessary to have your mediator involved. Well, what can I say? Au contraire, AI actually is going to be the most useful tool possible to make inclusion possible.
It's going to help companies, of course, do better, more efficient results, but it's going to be essential for mediators, for brokers, for our people. It's going to make their lives easier because it's going to be a tool that will allow for the integration of that relationship with customers. Something that we did say when journalists asked, and this was when we met also with analysts, they asked about this as well, and they've interpreted that as a very positive take, and a very exciting one also if you think about insurance activities in upcoming years. In the world, there are very many geographical areas that we know very well, in Latin America and in other parts of the world, many geographies where it's very difficult to reach out to your possible clients.
There's limited income, there's vulnerability, there's the fact that mediators, traditional mediators, lack of productivity in trying to reach out to distribute the product because these products have a tiny premium with a tiny fee, which means that most of that premium actually would have to go to the mediator and not to the client. That is, of course, the entity that we need to protect, the client. There's areas where there is exclusion, not because we want for those areas to exist, but because it's very difficult to access those parts of the populations that are not well-served by insurance companies.
Well, you know, I think that artificial intelligence is a fine tool, and with tools such as this, we insurance companies are going to be able to penetrate into those populations, people, populations who don't have an easy access to insurance products and services. With tiny, practically non-existent fees and with very streamlined, very lean fees, everything is going to be very automated. We will be able to guarantee massive relevant coverage to those people, to those populations who live in settings where that vulnerability is a fact of their lives. We know that those populations are also very much vulnerable to natural events. That's what we see, and that's what we believe would substantially transform inclusion.
Technology, as internet showed us and mobile telephony showed us, well, it made it very easy for those populations to access financial transactions, digitized financial transactions. I think the time has come now for us to be digitized as well, thanks to these tools, and this is why I can say that we embrace artificial intelligence. We're very excited about it, and we're onboarding it, as Mr. Inchausti already advanced, in our platforms, in our services, in reaching out to customers, because we believe that in many of these countries, we are going to be able to make it possible for millions of people to access insurance services that are essential for those persons to be able to have trust and see a reduction in future uncertainties. I think that we have provided answers to the questions posed by the shareholders who have posed them.
I think that now we are going to vote. We will put the proposed resolutions to the vote at the general meeting, and I'm happy now to give the floor to the secretary.
Thank you. To determine the outcome of the votes on the proposed resolutions included in the agenda of this meeting, we will use the negative deduction system, whereby shareholders who do not expressly vote against or abstain from voting will be deemed to have voted in favor of each proposed resolution. The full text of the proposed resolutions submitted to this meeting has been made available to all shareholders since the date of the call and delivered to the notary public. Therefore, given their length, I will read the proposed resolutions in a summarized way. As indicated earlier, once the reading of the aforementioned resolutions has been completed, the voting period will be closed. First item on the agenda, annual accounts, management reports, application of results, and corporate governance. The following matters will be submitted separately under this item.
1, approval of the individual and consolidated annual accounts and management reports for the year 2025. 2, approval of the consolidated non-financial information statement and sustainability information of MAPFRE, S.A. and its subsidiaries for the 2025 financial year. 3, approval of the following proposal for the allocation of profits and distribution of dividends for 2025. The profit for the financial year amounts to a total of EUR 655.7 million, of which EUR 554.3 million would be allocated to dividends and EUR 101.4 million will be retained earnings. 4, approval of the management of the board of directors in the 2025 financial year. Second item on the agenda, ratification and re-election of the following directors. Re-election of Mr. Antonio Huertas Mejías as Executive Director. Re-election of Ms.
María del Pilar Perales Viscasillas as Independent Director. Three, ratification of the appointment of Ms. María de los Ángeles Santamaría Martín, appointed by co-optation and re-election as an Independent Director. Third item on the agenda, amendment of the bylaws, with three proposed amendments as set out in the notice of the meeting being put to a separate vote. Fourth item on the agenda, approval of the annual report on directors' remuneration for 2025. Fifth item on the agenda, authorization for the Board of Directors to acquire treasury shares. Sixth item on the agenda, approval and payment of the dividend for shareholders at the GSM. Seventh item on the agenda, delegation of powers for the interpretation, correction, supplementation, execution, implementation, and formalization of the resolutions adopted by the GSM. The voting period is now closed.
Both remote votes and, in the case of delegations, the voting intentions regarding the various proposed resolutions put forward by the board of directors have been duly processed, and the results will be provided to the notary. In view of the available data, it has been verified that all the proposed resolutions formulated by the board of directors have received the favorable vote of a number of shares that in all cases exceeds the majority required by law, the bylaws, and the regulations of the general shareholders meeting for their approval. Notwithstanding the agreement regarding the dividend for participation in item six of the agenda, despite obtaining a favorable vote of over 98.5% of social capital here today, will not take place as the condition for its payment has not been met. That is, reaching 85%.
Therefore, this dividend shall not be paid as per the agenda. I therefore declare all the proposals for resolutions put forward by the board of directors to be approved. The results of the votes will be published on the corporate website within the legally established period. On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank you for your trust.
Señoras-
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, I would like to begin by thanking you for attending this general shareholders meeting of MAPFRE S.A., in which we have presented the company's accounts for 2025, among other matters, and for the trust that you have once again placed in us by voting overwhelmingly in favor of all the proposals submitted by the board of directors to this meeting. My thanks also go to those who are participating online. I would like to highlight and express my special gratitude for the high turnout of MAPFRE shareholders at this general meeting, in which for the first time, we have reached 84.93% of attendance. This has been spectacular, and this encourages us to keep us working and boosting all the measures for promoting participation and engagement with shareholders and in order to gain their support and trust.
2025 has been once again a magnificent year, a historic year for MAPFRE. We have once again comfortably exceeded our best figures in terms of turnover and results. These achievements are not the result of inertia, but rather a direct and unquestionable reflection of the strength of our business model, the strict and rigorous technical discipline that we've implemented in all markets, and the enormous robustness provided by our geographic and product diversification. We have reached these heights by navigating once again a global scenario that has not been without complexity. 2025 took place against a backdrop of moderate global economic growth and was heavily influenced by persistent geopolitical volatility and uncertainty. We've witnessed international trade affected by growing tensions, protectionist measures, and tariff policies that have slowed global supply chains and generated caution in capital markets.
From a macroeconomic perspective, inflation, which severely affected the sector's margins in recent years, has continued on a downward path towards stabilization. However, pressure still persists in many economies that have experienced sharp currency devaluations in Latin America and then the US dollar, the Turkish lira, among other currencies. As you know, all this changed since February 28. We are now once again facing a period of maximum uncertainty, both regarding the scope of the conflict in the Middle East and its economic and social consequences. I said this earlier, but for your peace of mind, our direct exposure in the region is minimal. What we do have are some reinsurance commitments, which are logical for a reinsurer that is among the 15 largest in the world.
From the outset, we have activated all the business protection mechanisms to manage this type of situation, and we have limited coverage or eliminated coverage as stipulated in the contracts in the event of military conflict. Additionally, as we said earlier, our solid and diversified business model is the best guarantee to deal with such adverse scenarios. We will remain attentive to the resulting economic impacts, mainly the resulting increases in inflation to quickly adopt the appropriate technical decisions to protect the business. As usual, our main focus is on people, on those who are immersed in and suffering from open conflicts in different parts of the world. We would like to send our message of solidarity and commitment to all of them and call for a swift resolution to all of these conflicts.
With regard to the 2025 financial year, it's also fair to recognize that we are going through a favorable period for the insurance industry. It is worth mentioning that our business last year benefited from more favorable global financial conditions. The stabilization of interest rates at high levels in certain geographical areas strengthened our financial income, directly benefiting our life savings business and our investment portfolios. In addition, 2025 has been more benign for the insurance industry in terms of catastrophic claims and natural events. However, we continue to monitor with caution the increase in the frequency of medium-intensity events, what experts call secondary perils, which we are able to keep under control thanks to our sophisticated underwriting and risk modeling. You already saw it.
In 2025, we achieved record revenues of just over EUR 34.5 billion, with solid growth of 4%, and premiums also exceeded EUR 29 billion and grew by 3.6%. For the first time in Mapfre's history, we exceeded the EUR 1 billion mark in net profit, and gross profit, with before taxes and external partners, stood at over EUR 2.4 billion. This is also the highest figure ever recorded by our group in its nearly 100-year history. Ladies and gentlemen, at Mapfre, we see the company as an ecosystem of shared value, and that value is meaningless if success does not benefit those who place their trust in us.
This extraordinary evolution in profitability and cash generation of our operations gives us the necessary space to increase, as has been the case, for the fifth consecutive time in the last three years, shareholder remuneration. This year, shareholders will receive the highest dividend ever. This supplementary dividend of EUR 0.11 gross per share will be paid out. Thus, the total dividend charged to the result of this record year will reach EUR 0.18 per share. This means that we will allocate EUR 554 million entirely in cash this year to remunerate our shareholders. In view of the results, this figure represents strict compliance with our payout policy, exceeding 51% of our profits.
To put this corporation's remuneration effort into perspective, in the last five years, Mapfre has paid out almost EUR 2.3 billion in dividends, therefore strengthening the net worth and income of the families and investors that support us. Before delving into the technical analysis of the business areas, it is imperative to reflect on a significant milestone that took place at the beginning of the year, and one that will shape our commercial future and image. The launch, as you can see everywhere, of our revamped global brand. This new visual identity is not, it's not merely an aesthetic redesign, it is the embodiment of the enormous silent transformation that the company has undergone over the last decade. It projects to the market what we are today, a global, agile, technologically advanced company, but above all, an essentially human company.
Our new brand represents who we are and how we do things. We are honest, clear, and transparent, and we are a solid customer-faced company, always standing by society. The response from our stakeholders has been very positive, and this has helped us even further to connect more emotionally with our audience. This renewal is not just about the image. It will essentially be a direct lever for commercial growth, talent attraction, and competitive differentiation.
There are moments that mark a before and an after, moments that don't just change an identity, but the way we show up in the world. At Mapfre, we've started a new chapter. After a profound transformation of the company and staying true to our culture and nearly century-old legacy, the time had come to project ourselves differently to the world. We've also transformed on the outside to be closer, more human, more accessible, and more digital. We're the best allies our customers could hope for. We help them build the futures they want, and we're with them all the way on their journey. We've evolved, but we are still Mapfre. In January, we launched our new visual identity globally, everyone together in every country and in all channels.
Thousands of professionals on board from day one, because a brand only really makes sense when those who represent it feel like it's their own. With pride and commitment, the response was immediate. On the streets, in the media, and on social networks, everyone was talking about Mapfre. Millions of people living and feeling the change. We hit new highs in conversation, awareness, and emotion. We are still Mapfre. We've changed how we present ourselves to the world, keeping our culture, our values, and our way of connecting with people intact. We go where you go, where every one of our customers goes. Welcome to the start of something new.
Gracias. Thank you. Thank you, really, because we see this every day at Mapfre, and I think that our audience, our clients, our partners, and of course you shareholders, feel what we feel. This was something that was needed, and this is now a new map, the new Mapfre. Now, let's analyze how the strategy has translated into tangible realities around the world, and this is beyond figures. I'll start with Iberia, that is Spain and Portugal. Commercial and technical deployment has been magnificent. In this area, for the first time in history, we've exceeded the historic barrier of EUR 10 billion in premiums with a vigorous double-digit growth. This milestone means that we have achieved the volume target that we had set ourselves for the end of the strategic cycle that will end in 2026 this year.
Not only in terms of volume, but we have obtained a very significant profit that underpins Iberia as the best bastion of stability in the group. The most notable management milestone, as was mentioned earlier, has been fulfilling our promise to return the motor line to technical profitability through strict underwriting, the use of advanced analytics to adjust rates, and improved efficiency in claims control. We managed to clean up the portfolio while maintaining service excellence. In this same segment, our digital subsidiary, Verti, has had its best year since its founding 15 years ago, setting records in both premium volume and net profit. Momentum does not stop there. In the business segment, we have consolidated our leadership as the leading insurer in the productive sector, growing vigorously.
The real takeoff has been in the life business, with exceptional growth that has allowed us to exceed the EUR 3 billion mark, driven by savings and wealth planning solutions that our revamped specialized networks have rolled out with enormous success among our customers. In addition, our two banking partnerships with Banco Santander in auto and SME insurance with Bankinter in life and pension insurance have continued to develop at a good pace with strong growth and results. Portugal has also shown very good growth and profitability, consolidating its position as the fastest-growing entity in its local market for the third consecutive year. Mapfre in Spain is synonymous with capillarity and proximity. While the financial and general insurance business tends towards depersonalization and physical retreat, we are swimming against the tide because we believe in personal advice.
Therefore, we are continuing with our ambitious plan to open more offices. In 2025, we opened 138 of them. We currently have 3,200 offices in the Iberian Peninsula, which allow us to be very close to all our clients. Moreover, we are committed to major strategic alliances to diversify our distribution, notably the exclusive agreement with Carrefour, which will make our insurance offering available to the more than 10 million members of its loyalty club. Furthermore, we are continuing to develop our ambitious systems plan, which will lay out the foundations for a profound technological renewal in Spain over the coming years. We have also continued with a comprehensive digitization plan, and proof of its success it can be seen in the high rate of self-management by customers, which now exceeds 76%.
In Spain and looking ahead to 2026, we have set ourselves a goal of leveraging these capabilities and growing faster than the market. To do so, we are implementing three major changes in our day-to-day operations, a more customer-oriented organization in terms of objectives and processes, a new, more agile and more accessible regional network structure that simplifies decision-making, and a profound transformation in local areas to strengthen our leadership. In the life business, we want to consolidate our position as leaders in financial planning. For this, we will continue to expand our offering in savings and risk products, which will be differentiated, and we will launch a joint plan with our dear partner, Abante, a leader in wealth management, which will allow us to offer our customers a comprehensive service in the management of their savings and investments.
In auto insurance, once profitability has been achieved, we will promote a mobility ecosystem that integrates financing, protection, and management services. We will also develop similar services for home and health insurance, all of them tailored to the needs of each segment and strongly supported by our digital capabilities. Before turning to other geographic areas and businesses, I must also mention the significant commercial boost that we expect from our sports sponsorships. As you know, we are already supporting the two most popular competitions in Latin America and Spain. In Latin America, the CONMEBOL Libertadores, and in Spain, the Copa del Rey MAPFRE. We expanded this collaboration by also sponsoring the Spanish national soccer team, which will increase our visibility and strengthen our brand. For the upcoming 2026 World Cup, we'll be there, and also up to 2030 in that World Cup.
Now let's go to our dear region of Latin America. Latin America continues to prove that it's a vibrant and strategically essential region for the group. Despite the persistent challenge posed by what has been mentioned earlier, the currency volatility. Technical performance and local management have been outstanding, and this has allowed to maintain the region as the second-largest contributor to the group's profit globally. Brazil's performance deserves the highest rating. Operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment with very high interest rates that are stifling lending and slowing down related lines of business, such as life risk and agricultural insurance, our subsidiary has given a lesson in resilience and technical precision, and as a result, Brazil has also reported the highest profit in its history.
This record is based on superb technical control, achieving an extraordinary combined ratio that positions the operations as a global benchmark supported by high financial income. Brazil said , a company operated with our strategic partner, Banco do Brasil, continues to prove one of the most successful and profitable assurance alliances in the continent. By 2026, macroeconomic expectations in Brazil are more favorable, with a gradual reduction in interest rate and a recovery in credit forecast, while there may be a slowdown in this reduction. Therefore, Mapfre's strategy in the country will focus primarily on maintaining market leadership while ensuring technical rigor and profitability. We will continue to consolidate our clear multi-channel strategy, expanding the broker base and strengthening the bank's distribution mechanisms in order to improve the customer experience and the support of new technologies.
In the rest of the region, underwriting rigor has allowed us to absorb extraordinary external impacts. In Mexico, commercial dynamics have been overwhelming, growing solidly above the market supported by our extensive networks of agents and operational development. However, the accounting result in Mexico this year was directly reduced by an unforeseen change in the tax framework that eliminated the deductibility of the VAT tax on benefits, an impact that, had it not occurred, would have revealed stronger operating results. Similarly, in Colombia, transformation of the operating model and the high quality of the issues have yielded excellent technical margins.
However, we were forced last December to make accounting provisions for the impact of an extraordinary increase of almost 24% in the minimum wage decreed by the government, and this had a direct impact on the mathematical reserves of the energy portfolios, which have been in a runoff for several years, but we keep on managing. Leaving aside this systemic impact, the underlying Colombian operation is highly profitable. We have also rewritten history in Peru, an operation characterized by its continued excellence. In 2025, it not only maintained admirable combined ratios, but also surpassed its premium record and posted the highest net profit since we began operating in the Andean country. Operations in Central America, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Uruguay also reported consistent improvements in efficiency and service quality, with good results that contributed very positively to the regional balance sheet.
We are-
We approach 2026 in Latin America on an extremely solid basis with technical indicators at optimal levels. We will continue consolidating the initiatives of our strategic plan, standardizing our processes, so that we can strengthen our multi-country platforms, which will allow us to generate consistent improvements in efficiency, quality of service, and technical sophistication, which are, of course, essential if we are to continue growing in competitive environments. To this end, we're lucky because we have the valuable support of strategic partners in the region, Centro Financiero BHD León in the Dominican Republic or recently Banco Internacional or Mibanco in Peru. These are alliances that allow us to strengthen each other and develop long-term projects.
I would also note the development in several Latin American countries of a business plan with the purpose of gaining more market in those segments of SMEs, basically, and which is being very successful, thanks to our geographical presence, our distribution channels, and very important, our own proprietary reinsurance capacity. North America, again, a fantastic year. After a two-year period characterized by inflationary pressure on repairs and component costs, the strong execution of our strategic plan, which truly focused on qualified underwriting, operational restructuring, and tariff adjustment, has radically transformed our P&L. As a result of this severe discipline, the region has achieved the highest benefits, highest profits in the last 10 years. In the US, our priority has not been growth for growth's sake, but rather the reconstruct of the margin, and we have expanded the use of advanced analytical tools for much more accurate pricing.
We have continued with an aggressive structural efficiency project, which seeks the automation of repetitive processes. We will see the beginning of this year, the development of general insurance for companies. Puerto Rico, for its part, has continued to prove its very great strength, maintaining an excellent value contribution through better diversification towards non-catastrophic lines. The focus of both markets for 2026 will be aimed at strengthening growth, trying to maintain the levels of profitability already achieved. Now, as to the EMEA region, we need to underscore the clear technical improvement back to profitability after the negative cycle in motor insurance. Germany and Italy have implemented strict roadworthiness plans and structural cost reductions that are helping to reduce their combined ratios. In the case of Italy, we furthermore have new sources of production which are helping diversify the business.
In Turkey, our in-depth knowledge of managing environments with very high volatility and hyperinflation has allowed us to combine technical rigor with financial returns and thus maintain profitability. Malta, as usual, has delivered formidable results, fantastic, thanks to the leadership shared with our Bank of Valletta strategic partner. The international clout of our global units has proven to be differential. Mapfre RE, which is the backbone of our protection capacity, has had a brilliant year. Backed by a market environment that called for solvency and capacity, and thanks to the absence of catastrophic events of great intensity, the unit has also achieved an all-time record in terms of profits. This is the result of extreme prudence, quality of capital, and an impeccable reserves policy.
MAPFRE RE's global leadership is recognized the world over, climbing positions year- after- year, and this year entering the global top 10 of NMG reinsurance brands. This is a ranking that is built on the valuation of its customers, consolidating them as 12th reinsurer in the world according to MAPFRE Economics, the second in the world. We continue to expand. We recently announced the opening of a new branch in the dynamic Indian market, which joins those already operating in the Asian region, going from China to Malaysia, including the Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. All of this allows us to face 2026 at MAPFRE RE with the ambition of maintaining sustained growth in premiums and results in a very competitive reinsurance environment, one in which prices trend down.
To this end, technical disciplines will be even more essential in this demanding market cycle and will be key to sustaining high profitability levels. We need to add our multiple efficiency transformation and innovation initiatives, which will allow us to be more agile and further reinforce our clear differentiation in the market. The Global Risks Unit, protective shield of large multinationals, has again proved impeccable technical solvency in a competitive market, again achieving magnificent results with an excellent combined ratio. In 2026, it will again strengthen its growth levers based on the development of the business in LatAm through the Bermuda office, attracting multinationals that are not Mapfre customers in the region and in the development of cyber protection programs, employee benefits, and parametric insurance. Meanwhile, our reformulated assistance and services unit strengthens its structural recovery by solidly improving technical margins.
Its value proposition advances unstoppably thanks to open integration models and B2B agreements. The most outstanding is the execution of a strategic alliance in Italy with Vittoria Assicurazioni, which opens up very promising growth prospects in addition to a more digital and renewed offer in assistance services in LatAm. Finally, Solunion, our joint venture. Expert in credit and surety insurance has also completed a brilliant year with excellent growth and great results. I remind you, the company has a presence in 16 countries, and it is a multinational, and its strategy focuses on strengthening its leadership positions, increasing its offer, and consolidating its presence in the markets, also strongly boosting surety insurance. As to life, the achievements of this year have been superlative. We have successfully deployed our plan Impulso de Vida in LatAm, including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Panama.
Just recently, we've onboarded the Dominican Republic and Chile. All of this supported by the strengthening of our networks of specialized mediators. An example would be the success of Club Milla. Over 9,000 agents duly registered, acting as a differential element to retain the best commercial talent. We've also applied a rigorous technical control that allows us to improve the profitability of the combined life risk ratio. We've launched a very innovative project, the analysis of a group of nearly 4 million Ibero-American residents in Spain to design a differentiating transnational value proposition to which we will add the capacity of services that MAWDY provides us. We're eager to diversify and to be there for our clients at all stages of their existence in life. The strategy of our life and asset and wealth management businesses is becoming increasingly important in our group's growth.
In 2025, we've taken important steps along these lines. I'd like to highlight the strategy that the group is deploying in order to become a benchmark in financial planning. You'll see that we have an unbeatable proposal with the three Ps in Spanish for any type of client. P for protection, protección. P for pension, pensión. P for assets, patrimonio. We complement our usual positioning as an insurer with the best financial solutions, so savings, investment, and retirement solutions. This strategy is paying off. The volume of assets under management by the group is in excess of EUR 48 billion with a robust increase of 6%. Mapfre Gestión Patrimonial has been a bulwark of this success. We've increased turnover by more than 28% and currently operate through 1,313 specialized offices.
Ladies and gentlemen shareholders, the extraordinary financial results that I've just shared would not be sustainable over time were it not for the intense structural transformation that is taking place in the operational bowels, if you will, of our organization. From the tech side, our vice president talked about the access and success of our global REEF platform. It's unstoppable. It's designed to unify and scale our core capabilities in Latin America and in strategic areas of Spain, laying the foundations for modern and multi-country portfolio management. We've talked also about the importance of artificial intelligence. You've seen that this is not new to Mapfre.
I would say that in the market, in the activity, our humanistic vision of this technology, which has allowed us to publicly state our formal commitment to support all of our employees, and especially, this is important, our employees in our tech transition, so that everyone can have opportunities in this world in which human and artificial, natural intelligence will coexist, so that the processes of professional retraining and support to perform new tasks be a reality for all. Because we believe that the best AI is the one that multiplies the value of people while making the company more productive, more efficient, and allows it to be closer to its people. We don't want less employees, we want better employees.
As you will have seen, we have undertaken a significant process to review and update Mapfre's corporate governance system in strict line with the objectives set forth by this board and ratified by this GSM. As you well know, one of the fundamental lines of this process has been the active promotion of the involvement of our shareholders. To achieve this purpose, on this occasion, we've made a significant additional effort. We prepared all of the background information, all the documentation, which was made available to you on the occasion of this meeting in order to achieve maximum clarity and transparency in the explanations provided to shareholders on the key aspects of our governance and remuneration. Thus, it is worth highlighting as a milestone that for the first time, we've prepared in free format the annual corporate governance report and the annual report on directors' remuneration.
This initiative, we believe, allows us to take a step forward in our communication in line with best practices in this area, presenting our information in a way that significantly increases both clarity and accessibility. Ladies and gentlemen shareholders, we face the completion of our current strategic plan, 2024-2026. This plan was incepted to gain flexibility, provide us with efficiency, and above all, recover adequate profitability in a disciplined and sustainable manner. After exhaustively reviewing the financial and compliance indicators, the verdict stands. The degree of execution and success of this plan is outstanding. At constant exchange rates, we would also be meeting growth. As you can see, we have exceeded the target range of our ROE, and we've compressed the combined ratio well beyond what we promised in our commitments.
You all know that we have fulfilled our public commitments in terms of sustainability. We heard our vice president just a few minutes ago. I would like to take advantage of the fact that we're together here at this GSM because I want to update, as always, the public commitments of our strategic plan for this last year of validity. As I said at the beginning of this speech, the upheavals that markets and the price of oil have been suffering in recent days make it very difficult to forecast what is going to happen in upcoming months. Yes, we have great confidence in our resilience in the face of extreme tensions, but the evolution of inflation, interest rates, and sufficient availability of energy and raw material supply will mark the economic pulse of the year.
This will depend on the length and intensity of the conflict in the Middle East. For this reason, we assume the commitments that I'm going to spell out, but with the necessary precautions that I've also just indicated. First, we have decided to maintain our commitment to a growth level of about 6%, but we must nuance that in view of the persistent volatility of currencies, which is, of course, greatly affected by current geopolitics. We add the clarification of measuring them at constant exchange rates. This was not foreseen in the plan originally, because will allow us to faithfully reflect the true commercial vigor and underlying development of our business, isolating the exogenous effects of the currencies involved. Second, with regard to our profitability, we aim for our ROE to be above 13.3% during the year.
We adjusted and improved our combined ratio target range. We want to place it between 93%-94%, structurally consolidating the excellent operational and technical efficiency of this last year. Both the ROE and the combined ratio will be conditioned by inflation. If substantially increased, we would be forced to dampen or moderate our forecast. I also want to strongly underscore the fact that we keep the rest of the financial, strategic, and transformational objectives are in place. We also enhance the ambition in our sustainability commitments with tangible progress in both social impact and governance and climate transition.
In short, today we reinforce our commitments based on the rigor and solidity of our strategic plan, which continues to guide us, but at the same time, fully aware of the fact that we need to be responsible, accountable, and prudent because we do want to move forward, but the world is one that is immersed in great uncertainty. The results outlined place us in an unbeatable position of institutional and financial strength. We are better prepared to face 2026 and other years. We were not unaware of the persistence of a volatile macro context. MAPFRE's fundamentals, thus, are today more robust than ever before. On the basis of technical profitability, profitable growth will be the absolute priority to guide our decisions in this new fiscal year.
We will aggressively boost market share in those lines where our technical margins are optimal and where our operational efficiency models are already operating at peak performance. We will continue to leverage the profound cultural transformation underway, supported by the unification of workspaces and our new digital environment, that great commercial momentum that our renewed and modern global brand image brings to us. We are fully confident that despite the geopolitical uncertainties that surround us, this third year will follow the path of the first two years of our plan. I think there's a technical glitch with my screen. Okay, perfect. Thank you. I was saying then that this third year is going to follow the path of the first two years. MAPFRE is unstoppable as an engine of economic progress and social protection.
The premium income and profit figures we have presented are the numerical language of millions of promises kept, families protected after a claim, companies saved from bankruptcy, and most of all, dreams insured around the world. When we launched this plan on January 1, 2024, we said that we wanted to better adapt to the environment. At that time, our market cap was approximately EUR 6 billion. At the end of the second year, it had more than doubled. It is clear that everything has changed and that this year all companies have seen reductions since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East. We're resilient, and we can grow profitably in complex scenarios. We've seen that in the past, and we still can.
We follow the evolution of different scenarios, and we make technical decisions to further protect our capacities and capabilities in the face of these external situations. Before I conclude, allow me to dedicate a few words with special affection to the person who has been an independent director for the past 12 years, second vice president for nine, on our executive committee, president of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee, and member of other committees and bodies of the group. I am referring, of course, to our very dear Catalina Miñarro. She left the board in October last year because she completed the term established in the bylaws in accordance with the recommendations on good corporate governance.
Catalina Miñarro has been with us in a long period, years with difficulties, complexities, very demanding external circumstances, but she has always been at the side of the executive team, lending her experience and professional expertise to the service of the group. One of the key people to be with us here. At this time, we enjoy MAPFRE's important successes. Thank you very much, Catalina. Thank you for everything, your support, your trust, and your friendship. As you are aware, Ana Isabel Fernández was appointed by the board as second vice president and president of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee. She was a member of the board. She has been a member for the past eight years, and Ms. Fernández will be another very important pillar to consolidate our business successes.
I would like to thank you for ratifying the appointment of Ángeles Santamaría as a member of this board of directors. Her professional experience will be very valuable for the proper strategic evolution of our group. Thank you. I do not want to end this intervention without first expressing my deepest, most sincere, and institutional gratitude. Thanks to all of our professionals, managers, employees, technical teams present all over the planet. Their talent, adaptability, and hard work are MAPFRE's true competitive edge. Thanks to our very vital network of mediators, delegates, brokers, strategic partners who are the human pulse of this company. Especially thanks to all of your good selves, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. Your loyalty, your staying in the capital, your constructive scrutiny, and your unwavering trust are, we believe, the true foundations of our success.
We will continue to face the future with the boldness of leaders, but based on the ethical responsibility and accountability that dictates our purpose. We're a global company, but with a local heart. We sell insurance and provide services, but what we really do is we take care of people. We are with people wherever people may go. What we want is to be their best ally. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you very much for your ongoing support, and a very good afternoon to all.