- Premiums written (GWP): EUR 3,871 million (+1.6%), of which
- GWP P&C: EUR 2,202 million (+2.6%)
- GWP Health: EUR 856 million (+4.6%)
- GWP Life: EUR 1,039 million (-3.7%)
- Premiums earned (net): EUR 3,642 million (+2.0%)
- Insurance benefits: EUR 2,783 million (+0.7%)
- Operating expenses: EUR 1,019 million (+7.0%)
- Net investment income: EUR 433 million (-2.3%)
- Consolidated net profit: EUR 167 million (+1.7%)
The UNIQA Group's premiums written, including the savings portion of unit- and index-linked life insurance, increased by 1.3% to EUR 4,095.7 million in the first three quarters of 2019. While the recurring premiums this includes grew by 1.5% to EUR 4,015.7 million, single premiums in life insurance declined by 5.4% to EUR 80.1 million in line with strategy. Retained premiums earned (in accordance with IFRS) increased by 2.0% to EUR 3,642.3 million.
Premiums written in property and casualty insurance rose by 2.6% to EUR 2,201.5 million in the first nine months of 2019. Premiums written in health insurance rose by 4.6% to EUR 855.5 million in the reporting period. In life insurance, premiums written including the savings portion of unit- and index-linked life insurance decreased by a total of 3.7% to EUR 1,038.8 million in the first nine months of 2019. The key driver behind this performance remains low demand stemming from continued low interest rates.
In the UNIQA International segment, premiums written in property and casualty insurance expanded by 0.7% to EUR 811.7 million, due chiefly to portfolio restructuring in the international industrial customer business in Liechtenstein. This segment's total international premiums accounted for 36.9% of Group premiums (9M2018: 37.6%). Health insurance premiums written remained stable in the first nine months of 2019 at EUR 59.7 million, whereas those in life insurance declined by 1.5% to EUR 304.3 million, chiefly the result of lower premiums in Russia. UNIQA International underwriting activity, per region, was as follows:
- In Central Europe (CE) - i.e. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary - premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance increased by 1.1% to EUR 709.3 million in the first nine months of 2019.
- In the region of Eastern Europe (EE) - Romania and Ukraine - an increase of 16.4% to EUR 152.8 million was recorded (1-9/2018: EUR 131.2 million).
- In Southeastern Europe (SEE), comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance increased by 6.5% to EUR 240.5 million.
- In Russia (RU) the volume of premiums written fell by 12.2% to EUR 65.9.
- In Western Europe (WE) - Liechtenstein and Switzerland - they decreased by 82.8% to EUR 7.1 million.
The total amount of retained insurance benefits of the UNIQA Group rose only moderately by 0.7% to EUR 2,783.2 million in the first three quarters of 2019. Despite storm damage totalling around EUR 70 million, retained insurance benefits in property and casualty insurance saw only marginal growth of 1.3% to EUR 1,295.5 million. Retained insurance benefits in health insurance climbed by 5.0% to EUR 727.3 million, whereas the figure for life insurance fell by 4.0% to EUR 760.3 million.
Total operating expenses less reinsurance commissions received rose by 7.0% to EUR 1,018.6 million in the first nine months of 2019. Acquisition expenses rose by 5.6% to EUR 663.0 million, owing in part to increased write-downs of capitalised acquisition costs in life insurance. Administration expenses climbed by 9.8% in the first nine months of 2019 to EUR 355.6 million as a result of higher investments and additional resources and staff requirements for the strategic projects. This includes costs in connection with the innovation and investment programme amounting to roughly EUR 31 million (9M2018: roughly EUR 23 million).
The total cost ratio - the ratio of total operating expenses to premiums earned including the net savings portion of the premiums from unit- and index-linked life insurance - less reinsurance commissions received increased to 26.3% (9M2018: 25.1%). The combined ratio after reinsurance declined to 95.9% despite higher costs (9M2018: 96.6%).
Investment income fell slightly by 2.3% to EUR 433.4 million in the first three quarters of 2019. Realised and unrealised gains and losses of around EUR 48 million had a positive impact in the first nine months of 2019. This includes realised gains from selling properties amounting to around EUR 45 million.
The investment portfolio of the UNIQA Group increased as against the end of the previous year to EUR 21,050.9 million as at 30 September 2019 (31 December 2018: EUR 19,337.1 million).
The UNIQA Group's underwriting result declined in the first three quarters of 2019, primarily a result of a 11.8% rise in costs to EUR 69.4 million. In contrast, operating result increased slightly by 2.3% to EUR 256.6 million. Despite one-time gains on disposal of EUR 47.4 million from the sale of the interest in Casinos Austria Aktiengesellschaft in the previous year, the UNIQA Group's earnings before taxes picked up by 2.4% to EUR 214.7 million.
As at 30 September 2019, equity attributable to the shareholders of UNIQA Insurance Group AG increased to EUR 3,398.4 million. The primary factor behind this development was the increased valuation of financial instruments held for sale on account of lower interest rates.
The average number of employees at the UNIQA Group decreased to 12,750 in the first nine months of 2019 (9M2018: 12,775).
"The results for the first nine months of 2019 provide a good basis for achieving our targets for the year in total. We can therefore confirm our outlook: we expect an improvement in earnings before taxes for the 2019 financial year - adjusted for the one-off effect of the sale of our holding in Casinos Austria Aktiengesellschaft in the previous year - and plan to increase the dividend payment per share again as part of our unchanged progressive dividend policy."
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