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17 August 2022

Half-year results 2022: Group achieves net profit of €28.9m, 48.2% of 2022 full year target

Pursuant to the rules of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange d.d., Ljubljana and the Market in Financial Instruments Act, Sava Re d.d., Dunajska 56, Ljubljana makes the following announcement:

At its 14th session, the Sava Re supervisory board was presented with the unaudited financial results of the Sava Insurance Group and Sava Re for January–June 2022.

The Sava Insurance Group generated a net profit of EUR 28.9 million in the first half of 2022, which is 48.2% of the annual target. The Group achieved operating revenue of EUR 364.2 million, representing 52.0% of the full-year target. Net profit decreased by one-third compared to the same period in 2021. This decline was expected and is mainly due to the frequency of motor claims returning to the pre-pandemic level, and high levels of inflation causing significant increases in the cost of settling claims, with higher provisions for future claims. In addition, the Group suffered large weather-related losses and other major claims. However, compared to the pre-pandemic and pre-inflation year 2019, the half-year net profit grew by 28.2%, showing the strength of the Group in this challenging financial and geopolitical environment.

The Group’s combined ratio of 92.3% remained within the target range, helped by the strong performance in the reinsurance segment, which improved its results by EUR 4.3 million in the second quarter (on a non-cumulative basis), driven by increased premiums, favourable claims development and effective reinsurance protection. Financial market conditions led to a decrease in the value of the Group’s assets and equity, although market conditions improved in July. The annualised return on equity was 12.1% in the period, so that the Group remains on track to deliver the target return set out in its strategic plan.

Gross premiums written up by 4.5%

In the first half of the year, the Group wrote gross premiums of EUR 433.0 million, up 4.5% year on year. The largest growth was in the non-life segment, in Slovenia at 4.9%, whereas non-Slovenian business grew by a remarkable 16.3%. The growth in gross premiums was mainly driven by motor business, where more policies were sold, and average premiums were higher. Gross premiums also strengthened in the reinsurance segment, up 5.2%, with a full 16.8% increase in the non-proportional business.

Cost-effectiveness within the planned range

The net expense ratio rose slightly to 28.5% year on year, mainly due to higher acquisition costs for life insurance business, the payment of a cost-of-living bonus, IT costs and other price increases. The net expense ratio of the reinsurance segment improved due to a change in business mix increasing low-commission segments. Moreover, the net expense ratio is especially better than the full-year target in the Slovenian non-life and life segments, reflecting higher revenue and the timing of operating expenses towards the second half of the year.

Financial market impacts on the investment portfolio

The investment portfolio totalled EUR 1,466.1 million, generating an investment return of 1.4% for the Group. The higher required yields in financial markets resulted in a reduced value of and return on the investment portfolio year on year. There were no major changes in the composition of this portfolio. Fixed-rate investments accounted for 88.8% of the portfolio, remaining at the previous year-end level. In the second quarter, the Group further increased the share of sustainable investments (ESG) in the portfolio to 13.3%, continuing its solid progress on strategic priorities in this area as well.

Digital transformation and placing the customer at the centre

The Group continued to upgrade and deploy digital customer solutions and optimise the customer experience, in particular on websites, where a multi-channel solution was introduced in two additional Group companies. The SavaNet portal, which so far includes data for Zavarovalnica Sava and Sava Pokojninska, saw several improvements based on customer requests and ideas. Sava Infond data are planned to be added in 2022. A comprehensive redesign of the Zavarovalnica Sava website is underway and will serve as a model for other Group companies. This redesign will improve customer experience, offer greater security and lower costs.

Information technology initiatives & improvements

The Group’s IT teams continued implementing reinsurance core system and data warehouse solutions. In insurance operations, work continued on implementing a new core business solution, and solutions for a geographic information system (GIS) and fraud prevention. The consolidated insurance data warehouse was expanded with new data sources. As regards the IT infrastructure, the Group upgraded control and management processes to improve its operational efficiency. Cybersecurity was strengthened by introducing additional internal controls and improving the organisation of process management.

 Sustainable development

In the second quarter, the Group mainly focused on preparing for the implementation of two delegated regulations that entered into force in August 2022: namely, Regulation 2021/1257, regarding the integration of sustainability factors into product approval processes, oversight and the identification of customer sustainability preferences in the distribution of insurance products, and Regulation 2021/1256, which concerns the integration of sustainability risks in the governance of insurance and reinsurance undertakings. Documents and guidance were issued to meet regulatory requirements, and relevant information was prepared for customers on sustainability factors in the insurance product offering.

Conclusion

With its half-year performance and development achievements, the Sava Insurance Group continues to make good progress against all its strategic priorities, to aggressively pursue its year-end goals, and it remains committed to its customers and their needs in the future. The management board expects that the annual targets will be achieved unless there are additional substantial adverse impacts from either the economic environment or catastrophic events.

The documents Unaudited Financial Report of the Sava Insurance Group and Financial Statements of Sava Re d.d. for the Six Months to 30 June 2022 and Presentation of Unaudited Results of the Sava Insurance Group for 1–6/2022 are attached hereto.

Attachments:

Financial report 1-6 2022

Presentation of results 1-6 2022