The international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) confirms the unchanged financial strength of the UNIQA Group with an "A" rating and a stable outlook for the Group.

UNIQA CEO Konstantin Klien comments: "In a time marked by the crisis on the capital markets - in which a range of European stocks have been downgraded - this positive result illustrates the stable situation and reliability of the UNIQA Group. I therefore see this as confirmation of our strategic orientation."

As material rating factors, S&P cited the significant competitive position as one of the market leaders in Austria, with convincing sales capacities, and the above market-average organic growth in Central and Eastern Europe. Also mentioned are the accelerated internationalisation and solid operational performance of the UNIQA Group. S&P explains the stable outlook for the UNIQA Group with the expectation of continued strong capitalisation, increasing cost efficiency and strong operational performance.

The strongly growing business successes of the Group outside Austria also play an important role in the positive appraisal. S&P sees great potential for growth of the UNIQA Group in further strengthened commitment in the markets of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. From investments in the organic growth of the foreign companies, additional acquisitions and from the Preferred Partnership with the local Raiffeisenbanks, S&P also expects above-average growth in turnover and profit contributions in the future.

S&P's assessment of the financial strength of the UNIQA Group was based on the - also unchanged - ratings of the UNIQA core companies UNIQA Sachversicherung AG ("A"), UNIQA Personenversicherung AG ("A") and UNIQA Re AG ("A") as well as the holding company UNIQA Versicherungen AG ("A-"). S&P also confirms a stable outlook for all of these companies.