| | OutlookUNIQAs Profit Improvement Programme 20072010After the successful achievement in 2007 of all goals of the Profit
Improvement Programme (PIP), the PIP will be continued as planned again
in 2008. The focus is on achieving a cost, claims and profit structure that
is comparable to international benchmark companies. The goal of the PIP
is sustained improvement in the Groups pre-tax profits to €430 million
in the year 2010. The PIP is based on a number of action plans intended
to secure long-term achievement of this ambitious goal.
Property and casualty insuranceUNIQA will consistently continue on its path of further improvement in
technical results in the 2008 financial year as well. The goal is a sustained
improvement in profit through stabilisation of the loss ratios at a low
level.
One focus will be the accumulation of weather extremes in recent
years. Special attention will be paid in the area of elementary insurance
to accounting
for risk zones according to the Austrian flood risk zoning
system
(HORA), with regard to floods and earthquakes. Another area to be
observed
is the development of the loss ratios in burglary and water-
damage
insurance. The crime rate has slackened somewhat; however, it can hardly
be considered a trend reversal. With more precise observation, it can be
seen that the number of burglaries is declining, but the amount of average
losses is increasing. Losses from the storms Paula and Emma in the
1st quarter of 2008 are expected to encumber the 2008 profit by approximately
€30 million.
In the area of premium definition, the focus is on expanding and refining
scoring models for achieving individual and risk-appropriate premium
definitions.
This strategy has been successfully implemented in the private
segment and will also be implemented in the business segment as of 2008.
In the area of legal expenses insurance, UNIQA expects to continue in 2008
its profitable growth exceeding that of the market. In 2008, Raiffeisen
Versicherung will promote automotive, home and flat insurance products
within the framework of the spring campaign, and will offer its advantage
customers the already successful severe weather warnings within the framework
of My secure advantage.
The reduction of complexity will be an important component of the
strategy
for 2008. This consists of two main components continuing
with standardisation of the product world as well as optimisation of the
processing procedures.
In the corporate customer business, UNIQA consciously relies on high-
quality
insurance protection and innovative product ideas, in order to
counteract
the price pressures that are clearly noticeable in this segment.
For example, we concluded a framework agreement in 2007 with the
Austrian Association of Real Estate Trustees, in order to insure the liability
of this professional group, for which mandatory insurance is required by
law as of the first half of 2008.
UNIQA offers risk management against legionnaires disease to the hospitals
we insure,
in order to set new standards in this area and to offer our policy
holders the highest quality of insurance protection. In the area of alternative
energy, UNIQA is planning to develop a combined property and liability
insurance product during 2008, in order to offer simple and customised
insurance solutions in these areas for this future technology.
In corporate customer business, such as the SuccessPartnership, a customer
advantage programme with a selection of supplemental services for freelancers,
farmers and small and medium-sized businesses will be strongly
promoted. Over 7,000 new partnerships are expected for the first full
year. This service and customer loyalty instrument should reduce cancellation
rates and bind customers more strongly to UNIQA through the
claims-based SuccessBonus. Cross-selling will be heavily expanded in the
corporate customer business through additional trainings and centrally
supported campaigns. Health insuranceOne of the hot topics during the last few months of the year 2007 was the
implementation of the unisex directive. Nearly the entire product range was
recalculated in order to comply with the requirement of distributing the
costs associated with pregnancy equally among men and women, for all
contracts concluded as of 1 December 2007. The redesign was used as an
occasion for some product improvements that will enter into effect in the
year 2008. The protection and service concept of the core product special
class insurance was expanded with the following new features:
- At the customers request, UNIQA will organise and pay for a second
opinion before planned operations, in order to assure the patient that
the planned intervention is, in fact, medically indicated.
- In event of the unexpected death of a close relative or upon receipt
of a dramatic diagnosis (e.g. cancer), the customer has the right to a
therapeutic
crisis intervention. Diagnosis with cancer not only results
in coverage of the treatment costs but also payment of a lump sum
benefit.
The idea of allowing health insurance to grow along with the various needs
of different phases of life was introduced with the product FirstCare. The
coverage ranges here from costs for the accompaniment of small children
in hospital to accident costs for youths to serious illnesses in adults, with
the added option of a discounted switch to full special-class insurance.
The
further development of the life-cycle concept and the associated additional
flexibility of the health insurance protection will be key points for the
current
year.
This will also be one of the answers of Mannheimer Krankenversicherung AG,
a member of the UNIQA Group, to the health reform being realised this
year in Germany. Mannheimer Krankenversicherung will, in this way,
continue
its path as an innovative service-oriented insurance company in
the premium
segment.
The Expatriate product concept developed according to plan during
2007 and now available, will be important for the entire UNIQA Group. This
product allows individually customised insurance solutions to be offered
to people who will be living abroad temporarily for periods longer than a
year, with the inclusion, if desired, of corresponding follow-on insurance
after the end of the time abroad. Particularly for people who were already
insured with UNIQA, the opportunity to return to this insurance without
disadvantages is of great importance. The option for Austrian companies
to insure even their non-Austrian employees while working abroad is also
worth highlighting. Especially in high-level management positions, optimal
coverage in the event of an illness is a fringe benefit in high demand,
and a decisive competitive advantage in the Central and Eastern European
employment market.
The big breakthrough toward a developed private health insurance market
in Eastern and south-eastern Europe is still not in sight for 2008. Regardless
of this, UNIQA is evaluating selected markets for the implementation of
a product concept that combines services and insurance protection at
various
levels in cooperation with health care service providers, as well as
with institutions not yet established.
Life insuranceThe UNIQA Group offers a comprehensive selection of classic and unitlinked
life insurance products as well as private nursing care insurance.
One focus of the UNIQA sales and marketing activities in 2008 will be the
innovative product FlexSolution, which is being realised within the framework
of the new future provisions platform and combines the advantages
of classic and unit-linked life insurance within a single contract. The future
provisions solution accompanies the customer throughout his or her life
and can be flexibly adapted to changed life circumstances and customer
needs, making it an optimal solution for actively reacting to life cycles or
a specific market situation.
Private insurance companies and state-subsidised future provisions will also
be extremely important during 2008. UNIQA is always in tune with the
times and develops new products and product features:
- Expansion of the future provisions platform with additional product
modules
for all sales channels will be a focal issue in 2008.
- Differentiation between smokers and non-smokers will be a premiumdetermining
factor, among others, in the rate definition for life insurance
policies.
- As of mid-year, nursing care insurance will be offered in a variant with a
constant premium dynamic, i.e. the entry premium is lower and increases
by fixed values up to age 65. This means a convenient entry premium
specially for young customers.
As bank insurer for the Austrian Raiffeisen banks, Raiffeisen Versicherung
will reintroduce Raiffeisen personal protection in March 2008. This product,
introduced as an innovation to the Austrian insurance market in 1983,
combines life insurance and casualty insurance with special advantages.
Raiffeisen personal protection is specially oriented toward target groups
who would like to secure their credit and establish provisions for the future
at the same time.
Some flexible and customer-oriented offers are also planned within the
comprehensive life insurance product line. These include dynamisation
of capital insurance contracts with an arbitrary percentage and arbitrary
years, as well as the option of flexibly selectable mixed life insurance protection.
This variant is particularly intended for the 20- to 40-year-old
target group, who would like to secure credit and provide for the future.
The future
provisions can be continuously adapted to the customers individual
life circumstances.
At the end of the first half of 2008, a life insurance variant with fixed payout
sums and instalments is planned at Raiffeisen Versicherung. This offer
will be directed toward customers who would like to rely on a fixed minimum
pay-out amount for their plans, or financial coverage upon ending
of the contract.
Internationally, the UNIQA Group will further intensify its cooperation with
the Raiffeisen bank group in Eastern and south-eastern Europe during 2008.
The focus in the product area will continue to be combined banking and
insurance
products, as well as preparation for the staged introduction of
capital-
forming life insurance products. The know-how transfer in Albania
will be intensified after the acquisition of 45.6% of SIGAL and the first
successful placement of newly developed life insurance products on the
market. Information according to Section 243a of the Austrian Business Code
- The share capital of UNIQA Versicherungen AG is €119,777,808 and is
comprised of 119,777,808 individual no par value shares in the name
of the bearer. The share capital has been paid in full. All shares have the
same rights and obligations.
- Due to their voting commitments, the shares of Austria Versicherungsverein
Beteiligungs-Verwaltungs GmbH, BL Syndikat Beteiligungs
Gesellschaft m.b.H. and Collegialität Versicherung are counted together;
reciprocal purchase option rights have been agreed upon.
- Austria Versicherungsverein Beteiligungs-Verwaltungs GmbH holds
35.24% of the share capital of UNIQA Versicherungen AG and BL
Syndikat Beteiligungs Gesellschaft m.b.H. holds 31.95%.
- No shares with special control rights have been issued.
- No employee capital participation models exist.
- No provisions of the articles or other provisions exist that go beyond the
statutory provisions for appointing Management Board and Supervisory
Board members, or for modifying the articles with the exception of the
rule that when a Supervisory Board member turns 70 years of age, he
or she shall be retired from the Supervisory Board at the end of the next
Annual General Meeting.
- According to the decision of the General Meeting of 23 May 2005, the
Management Board is authorised to increase the share capital by a total
of €50 million up to 30 June 2010, inclusive, with the approval of the
Supervisory Board. Furthermore, on 28 April 2004, the Management
Board passed a decision that UNIQA would resell already purchased own
shares. The Supervisory Board of the company confirmed the decision
of the Management Board in its meeting on 29 April 2004. The programme
for the resale of shares entered into effect on 6 May 2004.
- With regard to the holding company STRABAG SE, corresponding agreements
with other shareholders of this holding company exist.
- No reimbursement agreements exist.
Proposed appropriation of profitThe individual accounts of UNIQA Versicherungen AG, prepared in accordance
with the Austrian Business Code, report an annual net profit for
the 2007 financial year of €60,036,789.70 (2006: €42,036,959.37). The
Management Board shall thus recommend to the Annual General Meeting
on 19 May 2008, that the annual net profit be distributed as a dividend of
50 cents on each of the 119,777,808 individual share certificates issued
at the balance sheet date and entitled to receive a dividend, and that the
remaining amount be carried forward to a new account.
Vienna, 7 April 2008
Konstantin Klien
Chairman of the
Management Board |
Hannes Bogner
Member of the
Management Board |
Andreas Brandstetter
Member of the
Management Board |
Karl Unger
Member of the
Management Board |
Gottfried Wanitschek
Member of the
Management Board |
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