25.04.2008 |
- Profit increased by 42.7% to €340 million
- Suggested dividend increase of 43% to 50 cents
- Group premiums rose by 3.6% to €5.3 million
- Premium growth in 1st quarter of 2008
- Share repurchase programme planned
2007 was another exceedingly successful year for the UNIQA Group Austria. On the premium side, the market growth was exceeded in almost all regions, and the over-proportional increase in results enables a further increase in dividends by 43% from 35 to 50 cents. The basis of the good results was an improvement in operating profit by 43.3% to €378 million. The profit (before taxes) increased by 42.7% to €340 million, the net profit for the year (after taxes) increased by 53.7% to €269 million. After minority interests, the Group profit was €247 million (+62.7%). The earnings per share were 80 cents higher than the previous year at €2.07. The return on equity (before taxes) was 26.2%, or roughly 25% higher than the previous year.
In the consolidated premiums written (including the savings portion of premiums from unit- and index-linked life insurance), the UNIQA Group achieved a growth of 3.6% to €5,276 million. The strongest growth impulses came from the markets in Central and Eastern Europe with +27.6% to €816 million. Companies in which UNIQA holds only minority interests and/or only held up to consolidation date are not included here. In Romania, the decision to upgrade the investment in ASTRA S.A. from 27% to 50% plus one share passed in 2007 has not yet been implemented. We are currently negotiating with the principal shareholders for complete a takeover of the company to allow better utilisation of the large growth potential of the market and speed up the integration process into the UNIQA Group. Also not included is the Albanian SIGAL Group, in which UNIQA has a minority interest, and the Ukrainian property insurance company Credo-Classic, where the majority takeover took place in February 2008.
In the core market of Austria, premiums were increased by 2.8% to €3,517 million. In the Western European countries (Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Lichtenstein), the market-wide downturn in the single premium business in Italy alone has lead to a decrease in premiums by 8.7% to €942 million. In total, the international share in Group premiums at the end of 2007 was 33.3% (2006: 32.8%).
The consolidated insurance benefits declined by 3.2% to €3,597 million. The Group benefit and loss ratio was improved from 80.3% to 74.9%.
The total capital investments increased by €389 million, or 1.8%, to €21,544 million at the end of 2007. The net investment income increased by 10.4% to €955 million. UNIQA benefited here from extraordinary profits from the two capital increases of STRABAG SE. However, the effects of the sub-prime crisis could still also be seen. The actual losses suffered by UNIQA in the sub-prime portfolio totalled €9 million and have remained unchanged since November. The total reduction made on the valuation basis of the sub-prime portfolio - on the "mark-to-market" basis - totalled €101 million in 2007.
It is worth noting that the extremely low share of actual losses corresponds to only 9% of the total fall in value. The remaining over 90% is exclusively due to the lack of liquidity on the de facto non-existent markets but not due to fundamental economic principles - the repayments and interest payments are being made in line with the contractual requirements.
Substantial premium increases in the first quarter of 2008 In total, the companies of the UNIQA Group increased premium income from direct business (including the savings portion of premiums from unit- and index-linked life insurance) by around 14% to over €1.4 billion during the 1st quarter of the current year - based on local accounting standards and preliminary data. The strongest impulse for growth came from life insurance with an increase in premiums of around one quarter to substantially more than €600 million. The premiums of Austrian companies rose by around 5% to €930 million. The companies outside Austria increased premiums by 35% to roughly €500 million. The most dynamic developments were seen in the markets of Eastern and south-eastern Europe, with growth rates on the order of 50%.
Share repurchase programme In addition to the dividend increase from 35 to 50 cents, the start of a share repurchase programme will be recommended at the Annual General Meeting on 19 May. The Management Board should be authorised, with the agreement of the Supervisory Board, to purchase up to 11,977,780 individual shares (including the 350,000 individual shares that UNIQA still possesses from previous repurchase programmes) of UNIQA Versicherungen AG within 30 months. The suggested price range for the repurchase is between €8 and €25 per share. The purpose of the repurchase programme is to improve the supply and demand for UNIQA shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange. The acquired shares can either be re-sold on the stock exchange, used for an employee participation programme or utilised as payment when purchasing companies in Austria and abroad.
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.
Vienna, 25. April 2008