During Q1 2013 Austria’s insurance undertakings recorded a premium volume of € 7.5 billion, which represents a 0.3% increase over the same quarter of the previous year. Of this figure, domestic premium revenues accounted for € 5.1 billion (+2.5%), while premium income collected by Austrian insurance groups in other countries amounted to € 2.4 billion (-4.2%).
In terms of the individual insurance sectors, premiums in the life assurance segment decreased by 0.4% to € 1.8 billion due to lower one-off premiums for fund and index-linked life assurance products. Two segments succeeded in achieving higher premiums: non-life and accident insurance (+4.1% to € 2.9 billion) and health insurance (+3.8% to total € 467 million). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the technical account balance grew by 14% and the financial result increased by 5%, leading to a 32% or € 92 million increase in the result from ordinary activities, to total € 380 million.
The total carrying amount of assets (excluding deposits retained, investments in relation to unit-linked and index-linked life assurance, investments relating to state-sponsored retirement provision, and pro rata interest) increased to € 82.2 billion, which corresponds to a rise of 0.66% as at 31 March 2013 compared with December 2012.
At the end of the last quarter, hidden net reserves (the balance of hidden reserves and unrealised losses) were seen to drop by 2% compared with the previous quarter to a level of € 16.7 billion, despite the broad stabilisation of the economy and the financial markets. The ratio of reserves to investments is thus 19.8%.
The core share ratio (listed shares, share-based investment funds, share risk in mixed funds) grew slightly in Q1 2013, climbing from 3.57% as at the balance-sheet date in 2012 to 3.70%. The extended share ratio (i.e. with the addition of non-listed shares including holdings, structured debt securities without capital guarantee and structured loans without capital guarantee) increased from 15.38% as at the end of 2012 to 15.56% as at the end of March 2013.
The financial result of foreign subsidiaries owned by Austrian groups (aggregated) climbed to € 195 million during the first three months of 2013, an increase of 4.6% over the same period in 2012. Roughly 78% of all assets (€ 17.1 billion) were held as investments in bonds and cash. The share of investments held as reserves by foreign subsidiaries was 3.5% or roughly € 600 million as at 31 March 2013 (12/2012: 3.7%).
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Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
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