2013 Annual Report

Generali Group Switzerland achieves its targets – Strategic realignment strengthens the worldwide Generali Group
Apr 16, 2014.

Generali Group Switzerland can look back on a generally good financial year. The Group's profits rose considerably thanks in part to the Generali Group's new strategic focus.

  • Generali Group Switzerland increases group profit by 13.1%.
  • Combined ratio improves, going up 0.7 percentage points
  • Since January 2013, the Generali Group, which operates worldwide, has been successfully strategically re-aligning itself

 

«That the property insurance sector is growing and that the returns on investments are good is good news; both these factors have played a major part in our Group's results being more than satisfactory», said Alfred Leu, CEO of the Generali Group Switzerland. «While economic conditions have become rather less tense, low interest rates and the tendency of the market to be subject to more and more regulation still present the Swiss insurance industry with major challenges.»

 

Group profit very encouraging at +13.1%

 

The Generali Group Switzerland's group profit rose by a total 13.1% compared with the preceding year. Much of this is accounted for by its capital investments, which outperformed their benchmarks. Despite considerable pressure on prices, it was also possible to do profitable non-life business. Gross premium income stood at CHF 841 million, and, with an increase of 1.3%, kept pace with the market. Motor vehicle insurance, which accounted for 46% of this, was the most successful line of business, as it had been in the previous year. Together with property and business insurance, it played a considerable part in improving the combined ratio, which went from 95.1% to 94.4%.

 

Within the Life & Pensions segment, the volume of conventional life insurance business with regular premiums rose by 9.2% despite problematic interest rates. The decline in single-premium business resulted in a fall in gross premiums booked, by 6.3% compared with the previous year, down to CHF 1,307 million. The Group's gross premium volume consequently fell by 3.5%.

 

A successful start to the strategic realignment

 

In terms of strategy, the changes in the worldwide Generali Group were prioritised. Embarked on in 2013, the realignment aims to strengthen the capital base and to further build up insurance as the core business. It is intended not only to further develop services in ways that benefit customers but also to increase both profitability and global market capitalisation. This will be enable Generali to build its stakeholders' trust in it by being a financially strong and reliable partner to them.

 

The impetus of the changes is shown by the success with which various global initiatives have already been rolled out at the local level. Generali's new and uniform brand identity underlines the new Group-wide strategy and reinforces the Group's global character.

 

The complete Annual Report, with key figures and notes on them, the year's financial statements for the main holding companies and a review of the decisive projects and campaigns of 2013, is published at generali.ch/unternehmen/finanzielle_berichterstattung.html.

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