Burdened by an accumulation of major claims, the storms in the third quarter and the change to the deferred profit sharing, the insurance benefits paid by the UNIQA Group (before reinsurance) increased in the 2009 financial year by 17.1% to reach € 4,282 million (2008: € 3,656 million). The consolidated retained insurance benefits also increased last year by 15.1% to € 4,054 million (2008: € 3,523 million).
While the insurance benefits retained increased in Austria in 2009 by 23.4% to € 2,823 million (2008: € 2,287 million) and in the Western European markets by 6.4% to in € 521 million (2008: € 489 million), they fell in the Central and Eastern European regions (CEE & EEM) by 4.8% to € 710 million (2008: € 746 million).
