SIGNAL IDUNA Group 2010

Premium income up 7%, net annual income up over 16% and new business up 18%

Dortmund/Hamburg, 31 May 2011. The SIGNAL IDUNA Group can look back on one of the most successful financial years in its corporate history. "SIGNAL IDUNA consistently expanded its competitive position in 2010 and grew at a rate significantly higher than the market average," said Reinhold Schulte, CEO of the SIGNAL IDUNA Group, when he announced its annual results at this year's accounts press conference in Dortmund on 31 May 2011. "In addition to the company's very pleasing performance, the past year has primarily been characterised by a good deal of integration work, in particular involving Deutscher Ring Krankenversicherungsverein, the Donner & Reuschel private bank and Deurag Deutsche Rechtsschutzversicherung, which has been expanded by the acquisition of Allrecht. Our goal is now to continue to grow on this significantly broader based business foundation," Schulte explained.

The SIGNAL IDUNA Group's premium revenues rose by 7% in 2010 to EUR 5.64 billion (previous year: EUR 5.27 billion) and - as in the previous year - were thus once again clearly higher than the industry average. Sales performance rose 18%.

Gross expenditure for insurance claims also experienced a satisfying trend, amounting to EUR 4.38 billion in the year under review (previous year EUR 4.42 million) and thus recording a decline of 0.9%.

Investment assets managed by the SIGNAL IDUNA Group (including its financial subsidiaries) grew by around one billion in 2010 to EUR 51.5 billion (previous year: EUR 50.6 billion).

With pre-tax operating income of EUR 757.7 million, the SIGNAL IDUNA Group came close to equalling the previous year's record result. Net income for the financial year climbed 16% to EUR 81.7 million (previous year: EUR 70.3 million).

The average number of employees of the SIGNAL IDUNA Group was just under 13,000.

The health insurers in the SIGNAL IDUNA Group booked gross premiums of EUR 2.65 billion as at the end of 2010, representing an increase of 2.9% over the previous year. With gains of 7.9%, Deutscher Ring Kranken clearly outperformed the market average.

As in previous years, the two health insurers have again disbursed considerable funds to customers in the form of premium refunds. At a total of EUR 104.6 million, the figure at SIGNAL Kranken was around 20% more than in the previous year (EUR 87.3 million), while at Deutscher Ring Kranken the cash disbursement climbed to EUR 21.7 million - that is an increase of 26.5% (previous year: EUR 17.2 million).

Premium revenues at IDUNA Leben grew by 20.7% to around EUR 1.7 billion. New business premiums (including other additions) of IDUNA Leben increased in the year under review by more than 98.1% to EUR 636.3 million (industry average: 25.0%). The new business at IDUNA Leben (including other additions) also proved very pleasing in terms of the current premiums, where the final figure of EUR 82.7 represented a 7.2% increase over 2009; in contrast, the industry average was -3.0%.

The premiums at all of the Group's life insurance companies recorded a marked increase of 18.5% to EUR 1.8 billion in the year under review (previous year: EUR 1.5 billion).

The booked gross premiums of all non-life insurance companies of the SIGNAL IDUNA Group (domestic) stood at EUR 1.05 billion as at 31 December 2010, representing an increase of 1.1% over the previous year. Especially pleasing was the fact that, for the first time in five years, the average premium in motor insurance rose - even though the number of insured vehicles remained virtually constant.

The merger of the Group company DEURAG Deutsche Rechtsschutz-Versicherung AG, Wiesbaden, with ALLRECHT Rechtsschutzversicherung AG, Düsseldorf, has produced some satisfying initial results. SIGNAL IDUNA's expanded legal expenses insurer, DEURAG Deutsche Rechtsschutz-Versicherung AG, which was created on 1 January 2010, increased its premiums by 2.1% to EUR 147.1 million in 2010 and thus grew twice as strongly as the market.

In the area of financial services, the SIGNAL IDUNA subsidiary HANSAINVEST concluded 2010 with the best results in the company's history. The overall fund assets under management amounted to EUR 11.2 billion at the end of the financial year and thus recorded growth of 5% over the previous year.

The two traditional banks Conrad Hinrich Donner Bank AG, Hamburg and Reuschel & Co., Munich, were merged in a record time of just 333 days. The united bank has operated under the name of DONNER & REUSCHEL since October 2010. The SIGNAL IDUNA subsidiary provided services for 68,773 clients at the end of the financial year. The integration costs of EUR 20 million were covered by the bank's own funds.

In the first five months of this year, SIGNAL IDUNA's sales performance has improved by more than 11% compared to the same period last year. "The current financial year," says Reinhold Schulte, "gives cause for optimism. With an improved sales performance, we will continue on the road to success that we have pursued in the last few years."

SIGNAL Versicherung AG, Budapest, Hungary

SIGNAL Versicherung AG, Budapest, recorded booked premiums of EUR 44.8 million in 2010.

In 2010, the Hungarian government introduced a special revenue-based tax for financial services companies (banks and insurers), which has put a strain on the company's profits. Nevertheless, SIGNAL Versicherung AG, Budapest, was able to assert its position as one of the most profitable insurance companies on the Hungarian market.

SIGNAL IDUNA Polen Versicherung AG, Warsaw
SIGNAL IDUNA Polen Lebensversicherung AG, Warsaw

The two Polish SIGNAL IDUNA companies increased their booked premiums in 2010 by 8.3% to EUR 23.4 million.

SIGNAL IDUNA Poland opened the first outpatient polyclinic in the centre of Warsaw and thus further expanded its particular market strength in health insurance.

SIGNAL IDUNA Versicherung AG, Bucharest, Romania

The basic economic conditions in Romania gradually returned to normal over the year under review after a recession lasting more than two years. Against this background, SIGNAL IDUNA in Romania, which was founded in 2008, expects two-digit premium growth in the current year.

SIGNAL IDUNA Rückversicherungs AG, Zug, Switzerland

Now in its seventh year since it was founded, the company continues to pursue a solid growth path and is increasingly establishing itself as an attractive alternative on the European reinsurance market.

The company recorded premium growth of 1.7% to EUR 87.5 million in 2010.

The revenue and yield targets were met. As in the previous year, SIGNAL IDUNA Rückversicherungs AG will distribute dividends worth a total of EUR 3.2 million.

Press office

Contact:
Edzard Bennmann
Tel.: (0231) 1 35 35 39
Fax: (0231) 1 35 13 35 39
E-Mail: edzard.bennmann@signal-iduna.de

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