Recurring premiums have developed well in early 2012, but single premium business remains under significant pressure.
In Austria, the UNIQA Group has kept the premium volume stable in the first two months of 2012 at € 757.3 million (minus 0.2 per cent) despite the negative development in the life insurance segment. Life insurance premiums fell by 5.6 per cent, due primarily to a deterioration in the area of unit-linked life insurance. Premiums in the property and casualty insurance segment rose by 2.5 per cent, while health insurance premiums increased by 2.8 per cent.
Recurring premiums in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) climbed by 7.5 per cent. Single premium business in this region fell significantly by 46 per cent. Overall, the UNIQA Group recorded a premium volume of € 217.3 million in the CEE region in January and February (plus 0.2 per cent). Measured in terms of the annual premium equivalent (APE), which is composed of recurring premiums plus 10 per cent of single premiums, premium growth amounted to 6.7 per cent.
In Western Europe – excluding the comparative figures for the German Mannheimer Group for the first two months of 2011 – the premium volume fell by 33.9 per cent to € 83.1 million (minus 61.0 per cent) due to a decline in single premium business in Italy. In contrast, recurring premiums climbed by 16.4 per cent. Measured in terms of the APE, there was a 4.3 per cent rise in premiums in Western Europe.
