Group business development
- Premiums written (including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance) rose by 1.2 per cent to €5,372.6 million
- Combined ratio improved from 96.8 per cent to 96.4 per cent
- Earnings before taxes stable at €295.7 million
- Consolidated profit of €232.4 million
- Proposed dividend increased by 1 cent to €0.54 per share for 2019
- Pre-tax profit at 2019 levels expected for 2020
In € million |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
Premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance |
5,372.6 |
5,309.5 |
5,293.3 |
Cost ratio (after reinsurance) |
27.2% |
25.9% |
25.0% |
Combined ratio (after reinsurance) |
96.4% |
96.8% |
97.5% |
Earnings before taxes |
295.7 |
294.6 |
264.6 |
Consolidated profit/(loss) (proportion of the net profit for the period attributable to the shareholders of UNIQA Insurance Group AG) |
232.4 |
243.3 |
171.8 |
Changes in premiums
UNIQA’s total premium volume, including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance in the amount of €309.8 million (2018: €320.5 million), increased by 1.2 per cent to €5,372.6 million in 2019 (2018: €5,309.5 million).
Premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance
In € million
In the area of insurance policies with recurring premium payments, there was an encouraging rise of 1.4 per cent to €5,267.9 million (2018: €5,196.7 million). In the single premium business, however, the premium volume decreased by 7.2 per cent to €104.6 million (2018: €112.7 million) in line with the strategy.
Premiums written in property and casualty insurance increased by 2.6 per cent to €2,846.8 million in 2019 (2018: €2,774.4 million). In health insurance, premiums written in the reporting period rose by 4.1 per cent to €1,130.8 million (2018: €1,086.4 million). In life insurance, premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance fell by 3.7 per cent overall to €1,394.9 million (2018: €1,448.6 million). Reasons for this included the strategic withdrawal from the single-premium business and subdued demand due to persistently low interest rates.
The Group premiums earned, including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance (after reinsurance) in the amount of €309.8 million (2018: €320.9 million), rose by 1.8 per cent to €5,170.8 million (2018: €5,081.7 million). The volume of premiums earned (net, in accordance with IFRSs) increased by as much as 2.1 per cent to €4,861.1 million (2018: €4,760.7 million).
Changes in insurance benefits
In the 2019 financial year, insurance benefits before reinsurance (see note 8 in the consolidated financial statements) dropped by 1.2 per cent to €3,756.3 million (2018: €3,800.2 million). Consolidated net insurance benefits rose less sharply than premiums earned, increasing by 0.6 per cent to €3,657.1 million in the past year (2018: €3,633.7 million).
Insurance benefits (net)
In € million
The loss ratio after reinsurance in property and casualty insurance fell to 64.2 per cent in 2019 (2018: 65.4 per cent) on the back of a favourable trend in basic losses. The combined ratio after reinsurance thus improved to 96.4 per cent (2018: 96.8 per cent) despite a higher cost ratio at Group level.
In € million |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
Premiums written |
2,846.8 |
2,774.4 |
2,639.7 |
Insurance benefits (net) |
–1,719.5 |
–1,690.1 |
–1,644.8 |
Loss ratio (after reinsurance) |
64.2% |
65.4% |
65.9% |
Operating expenses (net) |
–861.2 |
–811.0 |
–788.5 |
Cost ratio (after reinsurance) |
32.2% |
31.4% |
31.6% |
Combined ratio (after reinsurance) |
96.4% |
96.8% |
97.5% |
Net investment income |
122.1 |
128.1 |
119.7 |
Earnings before taxes |
116.0 |
120.3 |
95.1 |
Technical provisions (net) |
3,061.3 |
2,970.6 |
2,939.7 |
Combined ratio after reinsurance
In per cent
Operating expenses
Total consolidated operating expenses (see note 9 in the consolidated financial statements) less reinsurance commission and share of profit from reinsurance ceded rose by 7.0 per cent to €1,407.1 million in the 2019 financial year (2018: €1,314.7 million). Expenses for the acquisition of insurance less reinsurance commission and share of profit from reinsurance ceded in the amount of €17.9 million (2018: €13.6 million) rose by 6.5 per cent to €907.4 million (2018: €851.9 million) due to increased amortisation of deferred acquisition costs in life insurance. Other operating expenses increased by 8.0 per cent to €499.7 million (2018: €462.7 million) as a result of higher staff and IT costs. This line item includes expenses for the innovation and investment programme amounting to around €51 million (2018: approx. €43 million).
The cost ratio after reinsurance, i.e. the ratio of total operating expenses less the amounts received from reinsurance commission and share of profit from reinsurance ceded to the Group premiums earned, including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance, increased to 27.2 per cent during the past year (2018: 25.9 per cent) as a result of the developments mentioned above. The cost ratio before reinsurance rose to 26.7 per cent (2018: 25.2 per cent).
In € million |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
Premiums written |
1,130.8 |
1,086.4 |
1,042.0 |
Insurance benefits (net) |
–960.3 |
–908.0 |
–877.6 |
Operating expenses (net) |
–187.8 |
–183.9 |
–168.0 |
Cost ratio (after reinsurance) |
16.7% |
17.0% |
16.2% |
Net investment income |
109.0 |
103.4 |
116.4 |
Earnings before taxes |
94.9 |
96.2 |
109.7 |
Technical provisions (net) |
3,359.1 |
3,190.9 |
3,037.7 |
Investments
The UNIQA Group’s investment portfolio (including investment property, financial assets accounted for using the equity method and other investments) expanded by €1,287.7 million to €20,624.8 million in the 2019 financial year (31 December 2018: €19,337.1 million). This was mainly due to the general fall in interest rates on the international financial markets.
Net investment income remained on a par with the previous year at €585.2 million (2018: €585.0 million) despite the persistently low interest rates, thanks mainly to increased gains from the sale of real estate and fixed-income securities. The recognition of the 14.3 per cent equity-accounted holding in STRABAG SE also contributed €57.4 million to net income in 2019 (2018: €51.4 million). The previous year’s figure had included a capital gain of €47.4 million from the sale of the indirect holding in Casinos Austria Aktiengesellschaft. A detailed description of net investment income can be found in the consolidated financial statements (see note 4 in the consolidated financial statements).
Other income and other expenses
Other income rose by 8.5 per cent to €192.4 million in 2019 (2018: €177.3 million), while other operating expenses fell by 8.9 per cent to €191.1 million in the reporting year (2018: €209.7 million).
Results
The technical result of the UNIQA Group deteriorated by a substantial 25.2 per cent to €99.5 million in 2019 (2018: €133.1 million) due to the increased cost burden. Operating profit improved slightly by 1.4 per cent to €354.9 million (2018: €350.1 million).
Earnings before taxes at UNIQA remained virtually unchanged despite the poorer technical result, rising slightly by 0.4 per cent to €295.7 million (2018: €294.6 million). This was possible because the weaker technical result was offset by a rise in other comprehensive income. The profit/(loss) for the period rose by 0.6 per cent to €236.5 million (2018: €235.1 million). Income tax expense fell to €59.2 million in 2019 (2018: €59.5 million), while the tax burden was 20.0 per cent (2018: 20.2 per cent).
Earnings before taxes
In € million
The consolidated profit, i.e. the proportion of the net profit for the period attributable to the shareholders of UNIQA Insurance Group AG, amounted to €232.4 million (2018: €243.3 million). This pushed earnings per share down slightly to €0.76 (2018: €0.79).
Earnings per share
In € million
Operating return on equity (earnings before taxes and amortisation of goodwill and impairment losses in relation to average equity, including non-controlling interests and excluding the accumulated profits of the valuation of financial instruments available for sale) came to 10.6 per cent in 2019 (2018: 10.5 per cent). The return on equity (after tax and non-controlling interests) declined to 7.3 per cent in the reporting year (2018: 7.9 per cent).
Operating return on equity
In per cent
On this basis, the Management Board will propose a dividend of €0.54 per share to the Supervisory Board and the Annual General Meeting (2018: €0.53 per share).
Dividend per share
In €
Own funds and total assets
Total equity attributable to the shareholders of UNIQA Insurance Group AG increased by €428.9 million to €3,401.0 million in the past financial year (31 December 2018: €2,972.1 million). This was due to the increased measurement of financial instruments available for sale caused by the general fall in interest rates. Non-controlling interests came to €19.4 million (31 December 2018: €14.4 million). Total assets amounted to €28,728.4 million at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: €28,503.8 million).
In € million |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
Premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked life insurance |
1,394.9 |
1,448.6 |
1,611.6 |
Insurance benefits (net) |
–977.3 |
–1,035.7 |
–1,025.0 |
Operating expenses (net) |
–358.1 |
–319.8 |
–319.5 |
Cost ratio (after reinsurance) |
26.1% |
22.6% |
20.3% |
Net investment income |
354.1 |
353.5 |
336.0 |
Earnings before taxes |
84.8 |
78.2 |
59.9 |
Technical provisions (net) |
15,666.7 |
15,483.4 |
15,815.9 |
of which technical provisions for unit-linked and index-linked life insurance (net) |
4,646.0 |
4,721.8 |
4,727.4 |
Cash flow
UNIQA’s net cash flow from operating activities amounted to €519.9 million in 2019 (2018: €–4.8 million). The cash flow from investing activities was €–526.9 million (2018: €210.0 million) while net cash flow from financing activities came to €–958.9 million (2018: €588.9 million). Overall, cash and cash equivalents fell by €964.8 million to €479.6 million in the 2019 financial year (2018: €1,444.4 million).
Employees
In 2019 the average number of employees (full-time equivalents, or FTEs) at UNIQA rose slightly to 13,038 (2018: 12,818). These included 4,202 (2018: 4,271) field sales employees. The number of employees in administration amounted to 8,836 (2018: 8,547).
In 2019 the Group had an average of 2,766 FTEs (2018: 2,708) in the Central Europe (CE) region – Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary – as well as 2,278 FTEs (2018: 2,242) in the Southeastern Europe (SEE) region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – and 1,647 FTEs (2018: 1,654) in the Eastern Europe (EE) region – Romania and Ukraine. There were 112 FTEs (2018: 108) working in Russia (RU). The average number of FTEs in the Western European markets in 2019 was 42 (2018: 48). A total of 6,193 FTEs were employed in Austria (2018: 6,058). Including the employees of the general agencies working exclusively for UNIQA, the total number of people working for the Group amounts to about 19,200.
In 2019 women made up 55 per cent of the staff working in administrative positions at UNIQA in Austria (2018: 55 per cent). In sales the ratio was 82 per cent men to 18 per cent women (2018: 83 per cent men to 17 per cent women). 15.4 per cent (2018: 14.6 per cent) of employees were working part time. The average age in the past year was 44 years (2018: 44 years).
In Austria almost all employees have a share in the company’s success through some form of variable participation programme. This will be either a bonus for managers and selected key employees or an employee participation programme. In 2019 14 per cent (2018: 14 per cent) of employees participated in the bonus system for managers and selected key employees – a variable remuneration system that is tied both to the success of the company and to personal performance. In 2019 a total of 79 per cent took part in the employee participation programme (2018: 76 per cent) in the form of a bonus. Everyone who has an employment relationship for the entire financial year is entitled to participate. Whether an employee participation bonus is paid depends on whether a profit target is met and to what extent other important corporate goals are achieved.
In addition, UNIQA offers young people in training the opportunity to get to know foreign cultures and make international contacts. Currently 81 apprentices are being trained.