Premium income increased in all segments: by +11.2 percent in property and casualty insurance, +10.5 percent in health insurance and +2.6 percent in life insurance.
The result for the first three quarters was influenced by the storm "Boris" in September, which alone was responsible for claims totaling EUR 184 million gross and, after contributions from international reinsurance partners, EUR 82 million net. UNIQA currently assumes that the total damage caused by this flood will amount to an estimated EUR 230 million gross and around EUR 86 million net by the end of the year.
These high storm losses also had an impact on the gross combined ratio (gross loss-cost ratio) in property and casualty insurance. The figure, which indicates the ratio of total technical expenses to technical income, rose by 2.3 percentage points to 93.3% in the first three quarters.
Andreas Brandstetter, CEO UNIQA Insurance Group AG: "Once again, our business in recent months has been shaped by climate change and the noticeable deterioration of our planet's vital signs. The massive flood damage in September in Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania is the worst we have seen in the past 20 years. Nevertheless, we managed to generate a solid result." The decisive factor here is the consistent corporate strategy, thanks to which UNIQA is robustly positioned in its core markets and the technical result is significantly more resistant to negative influences. Key aspects are the profitable growth in business in Central and Eastern Europe and strong sales performance across the entire group.
Outlook
For the 2024 financial year, UNIQA continues to strive for continuous improvement of its core underwriting business in its two home markets of Austria and CEE. Expectations of strong growth in property and health insurance are based on both targeted sales activities and adjustments in connection with inflation and index developments.
However, UNIQA expects earnings pressure to continue in 2024 from rising expenses for insurance benefits (particularly in the property and health insurance areas) and in the cost area (primarily due to inflation). Therefore, strict cost discipline and continuous optimization in cost management remain crucial.
Based on a solvency ratio of at least 170%, UNIQA strives to allow shareholders to participate in the company's success through annually increasing dividend payments. The payout ratio remains unchanged at up to 60%.
More details are available on the Uniqa Group’s webpage.
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