Austrian insurance undertakings increased their premium volume in the first quarter of 2020 by + 2.54 % to € 5.83 billion compared against the first quarter of 2019. The result from ordinary activities (German: Ergebnis der gewöhnlichen Geschäftstätigkeit (EGT)) fell by € 454.13 mn to – € 64.73 mn compared to the 1st Quarter of 2019. The was attributable to the fact that the technical result fell by € 177.54 mn to € 33.54 mn, while the financial result fell by € 850.65 mn to – € 130.05 mn. The total of all assets at market value (excluding investments in the area of unit-linked and index-linked life insurance) as at 31 March 2020 stood at € 105.79 billion. The capital base of the insurance undertakings remains good: 54% of undertakings boast a solvency capital ratio (SCR) of in excess of 200%, meaning that they have twice as high financial means as is necessary to fulfil all commitments. On a quarter-by-quarter comparison, hidden reserves of capital investments (excluding unit-linked and index-linked life insurance) however fell to € 19.79 billion, a decrease of -13.33%. At the end of the reporting period the reserve ratio therefore stood at 21.84%. These are the findings of the Austrian Financial Market Authority’s (FMA) “Q1 2020 Quarterly Report – Insurance Undertakings”, which was published today.
Insurance business doing well, investment business struggling
Broken down by insurance sectors, the development of premiums was positive in all business segments: in non-life and accident insurance it increased by +1.08% to € 3.71 billion as well as +5.31% to € 620 million in health insurance, while even life insurance with an increase by +5.17% to € 1.5 billion showed positive development for the third consecutive quarter. The yield on turnover (result on ordinary activities to premiums) is a significant indicator of earning capacity and deteriorated significantly by 946 basis points to – 1.32% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020.
The full quarterly report can be found (in German only) on the FMA website.
Important notes about the Report for the First Quarter of 2020:
This report uses a modified presentation method compared with previous reports: From now on the insurance undertaking’s entire business is represented. Accordingly the values not only represent direct insurance business, but now also contain results from indirect insurance business, also known as reinsurance underwriting.
The figures published in the report relate to the entire business of insurance and reinsurance undertakings with a registered office in Austria. Therefore small mutual insurance associations, branch establishments of third-country insurance undertakings or third-country reinsurance undertakings as well as EEA insurance undertakings or EEA reinsurance undertakings, which are active in Austria under the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment, are therefore not considered.
Information on an annual basis about small mutual insurance associations, branch establishments of third-country insurance undertakings or third-country reinsurance undertakings as well as EEA insurance undertakings or EEA reinsurance undertakings, which are active in Austria under the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment, can be found in the statistics section of the FMA website.
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik:
+43/(0)1 249 59 6001
+43/(0)676 / 88 249 516