ST.GALLEN, Switzerland, April 5, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Europe-wide active Helvetia Patria reports a profit for the business year 2003 in the amount of CHF 92.4 million (prior-year loss: CHF 362.0 million). The non-life sector and the investment business played vital roles in achieving this outcome. The shareholders' equity increased from CHF 1 046.5 million to CHF 1 153.0 million (+ 10.2 per cent). Premium income rose by 4.8 per cent and reached CHF 5 392.6 million. A proposal to double the dividend to CHF 4.00 per share will be submitted to the Shareholders' Meeting in view of the good result.
The structure of the insurance portfolio has slightly changed as a result of the deliberately slowed growth in the Swiss group life business and of the strong advance by the non-life sector. The proportion of total business accounted for by life insurance declined from 61 per cent to 59 per cent. About 60 per cent of all premiums were generated in Switzerland.
Very Good Non-Life Result
The non-life business took again advantage of its excellent portfolio quality. A good loss experience, a cautious underwriting policy and a strict cost management all contributed to the renewed reduction of the claims-expense ratio that decreased from 99.9 per cent to 98.4 per cent. The non-life underwriting result improved by 37.9 per cent to CHF 132.1 million (2002: CHF 95.8 million) with the premium volume amounting to CHF 2 269.3 million.
Improved Profitability in the Life Business
The premium volume in the life business increased by 1.5 per cent to CHF 3 123.3 million (2002: CHF 3 078.2 million). Against the backdrop of the still difficult conditions in the Swiss group life business the growth was deliberately slowed down. The declining business with unit-linked life insurance policies impacted the growth abroad. Thanks to the again normalised level of investment income as well as the steps initiated to increase profitability the life underwriting result improved and amounted to CHF 29.6 million (2002: CHF -87.2 million). The biggest impact was felt by the Swiss group life business, which managed to achieve a balanced result after the severe loss in the previous year. The significantly higher interest amount assigned to the underwriting business as well as the strict cost management resulted in the distribution of more than 94 per cent of the income to the Swiss life insurance policyholders. We have thus succeeded in exceeding the legal quote of 90 per cent for the group life business -- just recently passed by the Swiss government.
Substantial Profit Contribution by the Investment Business
The investment business gained from the improved conditions on the international stock markets as well as from the strengthened Euro. The non-underwriting result improved from CHF -343.1 million (2002) to CHF 76.4 million. Assets under management rose to CHF 25.5 billion and reflect the great confidence the customers are placing in Helvetia Patria. Asset allocation remained largely unchanged last year. While the net equity allocation after hedging was reduced from 4.5 per cent to 3.9 per cent, the portion of the fixed-interest-rate securities increased from 46.8 per cent to 51.8 per cent. The direct investment income advanced by CHF 19 million to reach CHF 933 million on the previous year with the increase largely being attributed to the expansion of the bond portfolio. The direct return on the investment portfolio was 4.1 per cent applying to the average investment portfolio at book values. The performance reached 4.7 per cent with regard to the average investment volume at market prices and without including value changes of the real estate.
Higher Equity Basis
We have continued to apply the accounting standard of Swiss GAAP ARR, as we did in the past years, and thus charged unrealized capital losses to the profit and loss statement. Thanks to the strong profitability of Helvetia Patria it was possible -- in the interest of gaining more room to manoeuvre in the future and by using a strict impairment -- to amortize the goodwill of Grupo Prevision in Spain and of Helvetia Life in Italy by 90.8 million. The remaining capitalized goodwill amounts to only CHF 22.5 million and thus creates a good outset for the transition to IFRS.
The risk capacity slightly improved, especially due to the achieved overall result. The consolidated shareholders' equity increased by CHF 110 million to CHF 1.15 billion with a return on equity of 8.4 per cent. Furthermore, valuation margins on the fixed-interest-rate securities in the amount of CHF 280 million are not included in the shareholders' equity.
Proposal to Double the Dividend
The Board of Director will propose to the Shareholders' Meeting to double the dividend to CHF 4.00 per share based on the good business result and the high profitability. We thus continue to adhere to our reliable and sustainable dividend policy of the past years. Continuously improving the return on equity as well as strengthening the risk capacity are both priorities for the year 2004. "We intend to selectively reinforce our strengths to ensure a sustainable development of our Group", said Erich Walser, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. "These results for the year are proof that we are on the right course. Constantly optimizing our business processes, applying a consistent cost control and pursuing a cautious underwriting policy will continue to help generating solid results".
Please note:
-- Today, a financial analysts' meeting will take place at
9:00 a.m. CET and a media conference at 11:00 a.m. CET,
both in German.
-- The Shareholders' Letter as well as the latest presentation
are available on the Internet as of now:
http://www.helvetiapatria.com
-- Please see attachment for Key figures.
Please contact for more information:
Helvetia Patria Group
Daniel Schlapfer Phone: +41 71 493 5448 Corporate Communications Fax : +41 71 493 5589 Dufourstrasse 40 daniel.schlaepfer@helvetiapatria.ch CH-9001 St.Gallen www.helvetiapatria.com
The Helvetia Patria Group
The Helvetia Patria is a Europe-wide active insurance services Group with core competencies in risk management (life and non-life insurance business, reinsurance) as well as in private pensions. The Group is active in Central -- and Southern Europe through its regional offices, subsidiaries and associated companies. The Group headquarters are located in St.Gallen/Switzerland while the headquarters for Switzerland are in Basle. Almost 4,800 employees are providing services to more than two million customers in six European countries. About 2,200 employees are working for the insurer in Switzerland. The Group generated a premium volume of over CHF 5.3 billion in 2003. The registered shares of Helvetia Patria Holding are part of the Swiss performance Index (SPI) and are traded at the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX) under the symbol HEPN.
Key consolidated figures at 2003
The Helvetia Patria Group
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2002 2003 Change
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Gross premiums written
(CHF million) 5 144.9 5392.6 4.8%
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Income from investments
(CHF million) - 67.2 1083.6 1712.8%
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Profit before taxation
(CHF million) -350.6 147.3 142.0%
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Profit after taxation
and minority interests
(CHF million) -362.0 92.4 125.5%
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Post-tax profit per
Helvetia Patria Holding
share (CHF) - 60.3 15.4 125.5%
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Investments at market
value (CHF million) 23 793.8 25 491.2 7.1%
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Net underwriting
reserves (CHF million) 21 815.2 23 360.5 7.1%
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Consolidated
shareholders' equity
before appropriation of
profit (CHF million) 1 046.5 1153.0 10.2%
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Consolidated
shareholders' equity
per Helvetia Patria
Holding share (CHF) 166.3 183.2 10.2%
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Number of employees 4 825 4788 -0.8%
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Helvetia Patria Holding
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2002 2003 Change
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Profit after taxation
(CHF million) - 0.2 24.1 9983.6%
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Total dividend paid
(CHF million) 12.6 25.2 100.0%
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Dividend per share
(CHF) 2.00 4.00 100.0%
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Share price at end of
year (CHF) 153.0 212.0 38.6%
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Market capitalisation
at end of year
(CHF million) 962.8 1334.1 38.6%
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Gross premiums in CHF million
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2002 2003 change change
in local
currency
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Direct business
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Switzerland non-life 540.8 562.9 4.1% 4.1%
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life 2630.1 2681.2 1.9% 1.9%
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Germany non-life 553.1 594.5 0.9% 7.5%
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life 128.9 138.1 0.7% 7.1%
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Austria non-life 172.8 190.1 3.3% 10.0%
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life 128.2 131.2 -3.9% 2.3%
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Italy non-life 318.5 343.9 1.4% 8.0%
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life 104.9 90.6 -18.9% -13.6%
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Spain non-life 327.2 364.8 4.7% 11.5%
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life 78.8 78.6 -6.3% -0.3%
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France non-life 82.4 82.4 -6.2% 0.0%
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Indirect business
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non-life 71.9 130.7 81.6% 81.8%
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life 7.3 3.6 -51.1% -50.7%
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Total non-life 2066.7 2269.3 5.2% 9.8%
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life 3078.2 3123.3 0.6% 1.5%
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Total 5144.9 5392.6 2.4% 4.8%
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Important Dates
The Annual Report will be available end of April 2004. The Helvetia Patria Shareholders' Meeting will take place on Friday, May 7, 2004 in St.Gallen. Results for the first half-year 2004 of the Helvetia Patria Group will be reported on September 16, 2004.
The Helvetia Patria is an insurance services Group, doing business across Europe, with core competencies in risk management (life and non-life business, reinsurance) as well as private pensions and has subsidiaries and associated companies in Central and Southern Europe. The more than 4,700 employees provide services to more than 2 million customers in six European countries.