UNIQA in the first quarter of 2026: consolidated profit grows by a robust 7.5 per cent

• Premiums written rise by 14.4 per cent to €2.80 billion
• Earnings before taxes rose by 5.9 per cent to €160 million
• Net consolidated profit up by a robust 7.5 per cent to €128 million
• Outlook for 2026 with earnings before taxes of €540-570 million confirmed
• Dividend proposed to the Annual General Meeting on 9 June: up 20 per cent to 72 cents per share

"With premiums rising by 4.2 per cent in Austria and by 6.2 per cent in our international markets, supported by the strong growth of our reinsurance company in Zurich, our diversified business model is demonstrating its resilience in the face of geopolitical uncertainties," says Andreas Brandstetter, CEO of UNIQA Insurance Group AG. "Especially in times of volatile capital markets, the profitability of the core underwriting business, which has increased by 5.3 per cent to €210 million, is particularly important."

Significant contributions to growth in all segments

Property and casualty insurance, the largest segment of the Group at around 68 per cent, recorded extraordinarily high premium growth of 19.5 per cent, taking it to €1,904 million. The reinsurance company UNIQA Re in Zurich played a key part here, as its external business volume is always especially strong in the first quarter owing to seasonal effects.

With very good technical profitability and a net combined ratio of 91.0 per cent (1 - 3/2025: 88.2 per cent), the contribution to earnings before taxes was €71 million (1 - 3/2025: €108 million).

The health insurance segment also made a key contribution to the positive performance with growth of 8.0 per cent to €441 million and considerably increased earnings of €26 million (1 - 3/2025: €2 million).

In life insurance, premiums written including savings portions from unit-linked and index-linked products were 2.0 per cent higher at €450 million (1 - 3/2025: €445 million). At the same time, the contribution to earnings before taxes improved to €63 million (1 - 3/2025: €41 million).

The contractual service margin increased to €6,095 million (1 January 2026: €5,879 million). This balance sheet item - new since IFRS 17 - represents the profits expected from insurance contracts in future.

UNIQA's technical result rose by 5.3 per cent to €210 million (1 - 3/2025: €200 million).

Despite sustained turbulence on the international financial markets, net investment income increased to €151 million (1 - 3/2025: €109 million), and the financial result to €29 million (1 - 3/2025: €21 million).

With consolidated profit up by 7.5 per cent to €128 million, earnings per share increased from 39 cents to 42 cents. The return on equity rose to 16.6 per cent (1 - 3/2025: 16.1 per cent). The solvency capital requirement ratio in accordance with Solvency II remained almost unchanged at a high level of 272 per cent (31 December 2025: 275 per cent).

Business outlook

In the 2026 financial year, the focus of our diversified and therefore robust business model remains on strong growth coupled with attractive insurance margins in our two core markets of Austria and CEE, as well as on the gradual, profitable expansion of our external reinsurance business.

The geopolitical environment remains unstable and weather-related damage will also tend to increase further, which is why the forecast for future business development is subject to uncertainty. Barring any exceptionally high negative burdens from natural catastrophes or capital market distortions, we confirm our outlook for the full 2026 financial year based on the excellent business performance in the first quarter, and expect earnings before taxes of between €540 million and €570 million. We also confirm our strategy of a payout ratio of 50 to 60 per cent, with which we want to continue to offer our shareholders a progressive and attractive profit-sharing scheme based on an annually increasing dividend per share.

Clause regarding predictions about the future

This press release contains statements which refer to the future development of UNIQA. These statements present estimations which were reached on the basis of all of the information available to us at the present time. If the assumptions on which they are based do not occur, the actual results may vary from the results currently expected. This is why no guarantee can be provided for the information given.

In this video, Kurt Svoboda, Chief Financial and Risk Officer at UNIQA Insurance Group AG, explains the latest results.

UNIQA Group

The UNIQA Group is one of the leading insurance companies in its core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Around 21,000 employees and exclusive sales partners serve more than 18 million customers across 14 countries.

UNIQA is the second largest insurance group in Austria with a market share of about 21 per cent. In the CEE growth region UNIQA is present in 11 markets: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. In addition, insurance companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also part of the UNIQA Group.