UNIQA Insurance Group posted premium growth to EUR 7.18 bn (+9.7%) while earnings before taxes exceeded expectations at EUR 426.4 mn.
Premiums written in property and casualty insurance grew by 14.4% to EUR 4.21 bn in 2023, due to the good sales performance and index adjustments.
Despite the high burden of weather-related claims, primarily due to the storms last July and August, and significant major claims, the gross combined ratio in property and casualty insurance improved from 91.7% to 89.4%.
The excellent technical result in the international business plays an important role here.
In health insurance, premiums written increased by 8.8% to EUR 1.39 bn. The positive trend of new business is also largely responsible for this growth.
We made substantial payments for weather-related claims, mainly due to the storms in July and August. We were also affected by significant major claims
Andreas Brandstetter, CEO UNIQA Insurance Group
In life insurance, premiums written including the savings portion of unit-linked and index-linked life insurance fell slightly by 0.4% to EUR 1.58 bn.
“We were once again able to grow noticeably as a Group and further increase our earnings. Our companies in the CEE region are developing particularly well and are making a substantial contribution to our increased profitability”, said Andreas Brandstetter.
The UNIQA Group’s insurance sales – the insurance revenue in accordance with IFRS 17 – increased by 12.1% to EUR 5,994.1 mn in 2023.
All business lines and segments contributed to this: property and casualty insurance grew by 12.9% in 2023, health insurance by 8.3% and life insurance by 14.2%.
In Austria, insurance revenue increased by 8.6% to EUR 3,519 mn in 2023, in the international companies by 15.3% to EUR 2,429.9 mn.
The Group’s insurance service expenses increased by 11.5% to EUR 5,291 mn in 2023.
At EUR 562.2 mn, the UNIQA Group’s technical result in 2023 remained almost at the previous year’s level.
The net investment income rose to EUR 588.8 mn in 2023. The financial result therefore increased to EUR 150.2 mn.
Consolidated profit/(loss) for the period attributable to the shareholders of UNIQA Insurance Group increased by 18% to EUR 302.7 mn.