The Austrian insurance sector recorded a slight drop in premiums in Q2 2012, falling by 0.71% compared with the same period in 2011, down to €3.9 billion. Total premium revenues in the first half of 2012 registered a slight fall of 0.16% compared with the first six months of 2011, to €8.9 billion. In the life assurance segment, premiums fell by 8% compared with the first half of 2011, to €1.54 billion. This was due to decreases in recurring premium payments and one-off premiums, among both traditional and fund and index-linked life assurance products. Sound increases in premiums in the non-life and accident insurance segments (up 5% to €2.0 billion) and the health insurance segment (up 3.4% to €432 million) helped to offset the drop experienced by the life assurance segment. Falls of almost 9% in the technical account balance, which dropped to €345 million, and of 8.0% in the financial result, which decreased to €1.78 billion, compared with the first six months of 2011, jointly caused the sector’s result from ordinary activities to shrink by around €114 million or 11.1% to €914 million in the first half of 2012. The news was disclosed in the Report on Q2 2012 Performance of the Austrian Insurance Sector, published today by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).
The total value (carrying amounts) of assets under management by domestic insurance undertakings as at the end of June 2012 was €95.3 billion (excluding reinsurance and fund and index-linked insurance products). This represents quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.65%.
Hidden net reserves (the balance of hidden reserves and unrealised losses) registered an increase of +2.1% compared with the previous quarter, due to the continued downwards trend of the interest rate curve. This corresponds to an absolute increase of some €220 million.
The core share ratio (listed shares, share-based investment funds, share risk in mixed funds) gave way slightly in Q2 2012, dropping from the previous quarter’s value of 3.55% to 3.38%. The extended share ratio, which also includes non-listed shares, structured debt securities without capital guarantee and structured loans without capital guarantee, also fell marginally. The value of the extended share ratio as at the end of June 2012 was 15.19%.
Premium revenues recorded by foreign subsidiaries of Austrian insurance groups increased by 5.3% in the first half of 2012, recording €4.73 billion in total compared with the first six months of 2011. The share of the total volume of premiums written that was attributed to these foreign subsidiaries as opposed to those generated within Austria rose in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, increasing from 33.4% to 34.6%. As with the Austrian market, the financial result of foreign subsidiaries for the first six months of 2012 was down by 4.8% to €343 million.
You can find the full Quarterly Report (in German) on the FMA website at: https://www.fma.gv.at/versicherungen/offenlegung/quartalsberichte/
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43 (0)1 24959 5106
+43 (0)676 882 49 516