- UNIQA in the first quarter of 2010: Significant premium and profit growth
- Continued dynamic growth of 8% in Group premiums according to IFRS
- Disproportional growth in international business with a premium increase of almost 18% in Eastern and Western Europe
- Profit increased by almost 39% to €43 million
- European embedded value for 2009 increased by 23% 

Despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the economic situation, the UNIQA Group succeeded in the first quarter of 2010 in increasing its IFRS premiums written (excluding the savings portion of unit- and index-linked life insurance) by 8.0% to €1,593 million. The premiums earned according to IFRS even increased by 9.6% to €1,330 million.

In the home market of Austria, it was possible to increase the IFRS premiums written by 2.2% to €950 million. In international business, the UNIQA Group succeeded in increasing the IFRS premiums by 17.8% to €643 million. The premium revenue in Western Europe grew disproportionately well at +31.0%. In the regions of Eastern and Southern Europe, which have been hit hard by the financial and economic crisis, UNIQA succeeded in raising the IFRS premiums written by 5.5%, which brought with it improved market shares in many areas.

In the segment of property and casualty insurance, the Group premiums reached €835 million, which represents an impressive growth of 4.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. In Austria, the premium volume reached €476 million – a growth of 3.4% – and the volume in international business grew to €359 million (+6.9%). The growth in Eastern and South Eastern Europe remained in the two-digit range at 10.4%.

In life insurance, the IFRS premiums written during the first quarter were at €497 million, or 14.7% above the same period of the previous year. In Austria, it was possible to compensate for the period-related declines in single premium business with an increase in recurring premiums to keep the premium volume stable at €270 million. In the international area, premiums were boosted 39.0% by exceptional growth rates in Italy to reach €227 million. In Eastern Europe, the generally cautious savings behaviour prompted by the economic and financial crisis had a dampening effect on the developments in life insurance. Nevertheless, UNIQA succeeded in increasing the premiums (including the savings portion) by 2.9% (excluding the savings portion: -5.0%).

After the first three months of this year, the premiums written in health insurance amounted to €260 million, which is 6.0% above the comparison value from last year. In Austria, the premium volume was increased by 2.4% to €204 million, while growth in international business was 21.7% to reach €56 million.

The investment portfolio as at 31 March 2010 was €23,690 million, which is 10.9% above the comparison value of the previous year and 4.5% above the value on 31 December 2009. The net investment income increased compared to the same period of the previous year by 70.6% to reach €250 million.

The total insurance benefits grew by 19.7% to €1,190 million, driven in particular by the increased allocation for latent profit participation due to the rise in capital returns.

The Group succeeded at keeping the growth in operating expenses of 7.1% below the increase in IFRS premiums written.

Thanks to the business developments, the profit before taxes increased by 38.7% to €43 million. After taxes, the remaining net profit for the period was €27 million, roughly 40% higher than in the first quarter of 2009. 

Outlook
The data available so far indicate that the growth dynamics of the UNIQA group have accelerated still further – the increases in the preliminary figures for premiums written after four months exceed the growth rates of the first three months both in Austria and internationally.

With respect to the annual profit, UNIQA considers an increase roughly €120 million to be a possibility, even if the weather losses in recent days cannot yet be fully assessed. This assumes that there are no negative surprises on the capital markets that affect the income statement or natural catastrophes comparable to the previous year and that the predictions of a slight economic recovery hold true.

European embedded value increased by 23% to €2,985 million
The European embedded value (EEV) of the UNIQA Group was increased in 2009 by 20% to €2,358 million. Before deducting minority shares, the EEV for 2009 was €2,985 million (+23%). Both the good development of the core operational business as well as the positive interest rate changes were responsible for this increase.

In consideration of the dividend payments, the profitability of the European embedded value of the UNIQA Group reached 22.3% in 2009. This value is significantly above that of the “pre-crisis years” of 2006 (17.3%) and 2007 (17.7%). 

Reservations concerning statements about the future
This message contains statements that refer to future developments in the UNIQA Group Austria. These statements are appraisals that are made based on all information available to us at the current point in time. If the assumptions on which they are based do not occur, the actual events may vary from the results currently expected. For this reason, we cannot accept liability for these statements.