Gothaer Group Press Release Cologne 2 July 2013

PRESS RELEASE

2012 financial year:
Gothaer Group’s 3.2 percent growth well above market

• All segments making contribution to Group growth
• Group profit boosted by over 54.5 percent
• Investment result up 28.0 percent
• Group equity 29.5 percent higher

  Cologne, 2 July 2013 – The Gothaer Group can look back on a successful 2012 financial year: gross premiums written rose 3.2 percent to 4,181 million (2011: €4,050 million) in 2012 and, hence, above the market level (market: 2.0 percent). All segments contributed to the Group’s growth: property/casualty grew 2.9 percent, life 3.0 percent and health insurance 4.3 percent. It was possible to boost Group profit 54.5 percent to €224 million (2011: €145 million). Group equity climbed 29.5 percent to €1,528 million. „Recent years were marked by the debt crisis, and uncertainty on the financial markets was severe. Which is why it is all the more gratifying that the Gothaer Group was able to hold and expand its strong position despite difficult underlying conditions. Continuity and dependability have had sustainably positive effects on our financial strength and competitive position”, says Group CEO Dr. Werner Görg.

  Rating agencies confirm corporate ratings in June

  In June of this year, the rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s confirmed their corporate ratings for the core companies in the Gothaer Group and go on assessing the outlook as „stable”. Below an overview of the results:

  Investment result significantly improved

  The Company significantly improved its 2012 investment result by 28.0 percent to €1,162 million. Jürgen Meisch, CFO and in charge of capital investments in the Gothaer Group, continues to pursue further diversification of the bond portfolio by broadening investments outside the euro zone. He is backing structured interest products with built-in derivatives and exploiting market volatilities to vary tactically the investments’ duration. „I believe the trend in industrial bonds is stable, which is why we are backing fresh issues, private placements and promissory note bonds. Another focus for us is on senior and junior loans to medium-sized industrial firms offering interesting investment fields. In addition, we propose to further expand investments in the area of renewable energies”, says Meisch.

  Private clients, too, can benefit from the competence of the capital-investment experts by subscribing to the funds of Gothaer Asset Management AG. They have been reporting good success since they were issued in 2008: the accumulated performance across five years, according to Morningstar Direct as per 21.05.2013,

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amounts to 20.91 percent for Gothaer Comfort Ertrag, 28.76 percent for Gothaer Comfort Balance – which was upgraded from A to A+ by Scope Ratings – and 22.96 percent for Gothaer Comfort Dynamik. „Our asset-managing funds show a good five-year track record and offer an excellent vehicle for building up assets in the long term,” Meisch stresses.

Gothaer Allgemeine growth stronger than in previous year

Gross premiums written by Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung AG, at €1,466 million, were above the 2011 level (2011: 1,426). „Our property/casualty insurer occupies a very good position especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises”, reports Thomas Leicht, Gothaer Allgemeine’s CEO. „Our guarantor of success for corporate clients is Gothaer’s risk advice which, for these clients, provides an important module for securing the survival of their companies and extends across the areas of fleet management, the valuation of buildings and factory equipment, the assessment of flood risks, and risk analysis in environmental and product liability,” Leicht goes on. Hence, premiums in this segment were up 4.5 percent on the previous year. For the current flood disaster, the company is reckoning with pre-reinsurance claims expenditure amounting to approx. €60 million.

Gothaer Leben with growth and stronger intrinsic value in a low-interest environment
The 2012 gross premiums written by Gothaer Lebensversicherung AG rose to €1,267 million (previous year: €1,244 million). The product launch in 2012 – Gothaer’s occupational disability insurance – was a market success from the word go. In the very first year, we were able to conclude policies with a premium volume totalling more than €260 million, offering the most family-friendly occupational disability cover on the market. In the second half of 2013, Gothaer Lebensversicherung will roll out a further product novelty: BasisVorsorge-ReFlex. This will combine a pension scheme with coverage for the fundamental risks of occupational disability and long-term care, so that it constitutes an ideal pension scheme offering four-fold protection. The life insurer was quick to shape and occupy strategic new business fields early on: as a result, these new business fields already make up most of the new business today. Unit-linked products account for 30 percent, biometric products for 24 percent and company pension schemes for 39 percent of the new business. „With our strategic alignment and the innovative expansion of our business fields, we are achieving a broader intrinsic value as well as growth. This is important when viewed against the background of Solvency II and is a guarantor of success in a low-interest environment – also for our clients,” says Dr. Helmut Hofmeier, Gothaer Lebensversicherung AG’s CEO.

„What is gratifying for our clients is that our all-in return in the case of deferred annuities is still 4.4 percent even in a negative interest environment,” Hofmeier goes on to say. „Here, clients also cover constantly rising life expectancy in addition to earning decent interest”, he adds.

Gothaer Kranken: Growth in insureds and premium income

Gross premiums written by Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG, at €851 million, were 1.5 percent above the 2011 level. The number of insureds rose 1.8 percent to 574,429 from 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2012. „Here, collective

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business has evolved into a real growth driver: compared with the 2011/2012 premiums, the premium in group insurance rose 6.2 percent and, in individual business, by 1.1 percent – meaning that business with collectives is becoming more and more important for us,” sums up Michael Kurtenbach, CEO at Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG. In this way, the growth rates in insureds with supplementary insurance at Gothaer Krankenversicherung, too, have been well above the market for years now.

Gothaer Towarzystwo Ubezpiecze• S. A.: Conversion fully on track

As part of its strategy of expansion into the Central and Eastern European growth region, the Gothaer Group in 2010 acquired the Polish non-life insurer Polskie Towarzystwo Ubezpiecze• S. A., which in 2012 was renamed Gothaer Towarzystwo Ubezpiecze• S. A. – or GTU for short. The company’s gross premiums written, viz. PLN 504.6 million stood 5.5 percent above the 2011 level. In implementing its strategic alignment by 2016, the company is fully on track, and its market position was again improved: as per end-2012, GTU is among the top 10 on the Polish market. GTU focuses on private clients and SMEs. In the private client segment, the idea behind a simple and modular product range is to work efficiently and at low cost, and to reduce dependency on car-insurance business. Here, the company is making great strides: the share of car insurance has already dipped from 79 percent (May 2010) to 69 percent (December 2012). In the corporate client segment, Gothaer’s success model is being implemented: GTU has logically been focusing on SMEs, offering tailored-to-suit products and professional underwriting, and has already been able to increase its share in corporate clients from 10 percent (end- 2010) to 26 percent (end-2012).

Your contact:

Sabine Essing
Presse und Unternehmenskommunikation
T: +49/221/ 308-34534, F: +49/221/ 308-34530 Gothaer Allee 1, D-50969 Köln
E: sabine_essing@gothaer.de

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