01 Gothaer Konzern_E_09_Umschl - Gothaer Allgemeine ...

Management Report
Performance
of the company
Policyholder benefits totalled €803.8 million in 2009, as compared with €831.2 million
in the prior year. While the allocation to reserves for premium refunds was smaller than
in 2008, the greater volume of business entailed higher claims expenses and required
larger allocations to policy reserves.
Net underwriting expenses for the financial year increased only moderately, from
€76.7 million to €78.2 million. Despite the positive development of new and portfolio
business, acquisition expenses rose by only €0.5 million to €54.6 million. The costs
connected with new business need to be recognized here and amortized over the life of
the assets. Administrative expenses also showed only a modest upturn, increasing by
€0.9 million to €23.6 million.
Owing to the developments described above, the operating result decreased from €21.4
million to €16.1 million. After tax expenses of €5.0 million (PY: €5.4 million), the net
profit for the year in the Health segment decreased from €15.9 million to €11.1 million.
Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG (German Commercial Code) €million
2009 2008
Gross premiums written 752.5 724.7
Earned premiums net of reinsurance 746.9 719.9
Loss ratio 78.8 % 78.6 %
Acquisition cost ratio 8.7 % 7.3 %
Administrative cost ratio 3.1 % 3.1 %
Investments 4,435.1 4,231.7
Investment result 150.8 175.1
Net yield 3.5 % 4.3 %
Gross profit 64.8 104.6
Equity 146.2 151.0
Underwriting reserves 4,381.2 4,141.4
Because of its very competitive product range, Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG managed
to take advantage of the opportunities in the market and reported a generally satisfactory
sharp upturn in new business. As a result, both the number of persons insured and the
volume of gross premium income significantly increased.
The number of persons insured rose to 516,355, which is 3.9 % more than in the prior year.
Particularly gratifying was the increase in the field of comprehensive insurance, where
the number of insured surged by nearly 5,000 or 3% to 163,233. In the field of supplementary
insurance, too, the number of persons insured was sharply increased by 4.3 %. One
of the crucial factors contributing to this result was the direct insurance market, which
we address through our ASSTEL marketing channel.
56 Gothaer Group Annual Report 2009