UNIQA continues on its successful course / Preliminary figures 2005

 

According to preliminary data the UNIQA Group is expecting for 2005 a profit on ordinary activities (EGT) - in accordance with international accounting regulations (IFRS) - of about EUR 185 million. This corresponds to an increase of about 50% compared to 2004 (EUR 121 million) and approximately five times the result of 2002. Extraordinary profits from the programme to resell shares, which amounted to about EUR 72 million, will not effect income according to IFRS and are therefore not included in the EUR 185 million profit on ordinary activities - they were used solely to boost equity.

 

"The excellent developments in 2005 are based on a growth in premiums in the Austrian home market that is clearly above the market average, on the rapid growth of the UNIQA Group in Western and Eastern Europe, an additional structural improvement to the cost situation and the pleasing development of income from investments. In addition to increasing earnings and strengthening equity in 2005 we also were already able to accommodate for the modified mortality tables by making a one-time allocation to actuarial provisions - with EUR 114,4 million we have already effectively covered the entire allocation requirements caused by the new mortality and annuity tables, thus forestalling further extraordinary allocations resulting from this situation for the years to come. From my point of view a very essential contribution to protecting the needs of our customers", commented UNIQA's CEO Konstantin Klien on the result for the year and added: "Alone the fact that we were in the black in 2005 in every one of the countries in which we are represented shows that our strategy of placing profit before business volume is the right path for the further internationalisation of the UNIQA Group. So far we have only made purchases at prices that are reasonable and make good business sense, and we will continue to do so."

 

Premiums According to the preliminary data the UNIQA Group has managed to increase Group premiums written in 2005 by 25.1% to EUR 4,727.0 million (including savings portions from fund- and index-linked life insurance amounting to EUR 360.2 million / +102.2%). The most recent acquisitions in Bulgaria and Rumania have not yet been included in these figures, and the Mannheimer Krankenversicherung (Germany) as well as the Raiffeisen Osiguranje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) have only been included with three quarters.

 

In Austria the premium volume written (including savings portion of EUR 261.7 million / +55.6%) rose by 10.0% to EUR 3,385.6 million. The largest growth impulses came from the life insurance line with a plus of 17.3 % on premiums of EUR 1,498.4 million (including savings premium). Above all the subsidised premium pension provision and the classic life products with higher yield expectations were in stronger demand. In property and casualty insurance the premium volume is, mainly due to the successes in the motor vehicle insurance and the general property business, at EUR 1,193.3 million 5.9% above the value of the same period in the previous year. In this area too, the UNIQA companies have beat the developments on the market as far as we know till now. With a growth of 3% to EUR 693.9 million, UNIQA has also managed to successfully confirm its undisputed role as market leader in the health insurance lines as well.

 

The UNIQA companies in the Western and Eastern countries outside of Austria were able to increase premium revenue (including the savings portion from the fund- and index-linked life insurance in the amount of EUR 98.5 million / +886.6%) in 2005 through organic growth and acquisitions in total by 91.4% to EUR 1,341.4 million. Thus, in the past two years the premium volume outside of Austria rose by EUR 939 million, which means it more than tripled.

 

Costs Despite a pronounced acquisition phase, UNIQA has continued to structurally improve its cost situation. In Austria, operative costs could be kept at the level of 2004, despite the expansion of sales capacities, thus decreasing the cost ratio by about 1.5 percentage points.

 

Outlook For the current year UNIQA expects a further increase in profit on ordinary activities of at least 20%. In the course of its internationalisation, the UNIQA Group also has on this year's agenda, in addition to entering the two new markets of the Ukraine and Serbia, an intensification of already existent activities in CEE.

 

Vienna, 3. February 2006