AMB INSURANCE GROWS FAST
[BIZ: November 15] In the first three quarters of 2007 the life, health and property/casualty insurers of AMB Generali developed better than the market. Total premiums across all lines of business grew by 1.4% to EUR 10,078m (9,936 m). This was mainly supported by the life insurers, driven by the persistent boom in the demand for Riester and basic pension products. In the life sub-segment, total premiums rose by 1.7% to EUR 6,321m. The Group's life insurers have thus witnessed a better development than the market, which only had a premium growth of 0.6 percent in the first nine months of 2007. In health insurance, gross premiums grew by 4.2% to EUR 1,299m from January through September. The premium growth of the AMB Generali Group is thus 1.7 percentage points above the market average expected for 2007. Business in the highly competitive market of property and casualty insurance continued to be very successful. By September 30, 2007, gross premiums written rose to EUR 2,516m and witnessed growth of 1.6%. This is markedly above the level of the market for which an 0.4 percent decrease in premiums is expected by the end of the year. The growth strategy in property and casualty insurance is characterized by an underwriting policy oriented at earnings and by the reinforcement of profitable business fields. Also in motor insurance, where competition in the market is fierce, the insurers of the Group were able to achieve an increase in gross premiums of about 1%. Despite the claims burden from the storm "Kyrill" and other storm events in the course of the year, the AMB Generali Group maintains its target of a combined ratio below 97% for the business year 2007. As at September 30, 2007 the combined ratio of claims and expenses was 97.5%. In this context the Group benefits from further improvements in operating business in the current year. The complete Group Report 1st - 3rd Quarters 2007 can be downloaded from the website.
In the first nine months of the current year, the AMB Generali Group achieved a net profit of EUR 322m and continued to expand its market share in the insurance business. Including the extraordinary impact from the forthcoming change of the corporation tax rate, the net profit amounts to EUR 393m. "We are right on track. Therefore prospects are good for us to reach our ambitious targets for 2007", said Chief Executive Dietmar Meister. For the current business year, the third-largest primary insurance group in Germany had forecast a full-year net profit of at least EUR 400m. In the light of the positive development, Dietmar Meister also expects further profit increases for the coming years: "For 2008 we anticipate a full-year net profit of EUR 450m; for the following years and on the basis of the measures already under implementation and the planned merger of Generali and Volksfürsorge we expect earnings to increase by 10% per year until 2010."
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