• CONSOLIDATED NET PROFIT OF € 51 MILLION compared with € 41 million at September 2011 (+24.4%)

• CONSOLIDATED PREMIUMS WRITTEN € 2,622 MILLION

• Direct business non-life premiums € 1,186 million (+3.7%)

• Direct business life premiums € 1,421 million (-17.1%)

• COMBINED RATIO AT 96% (96.9% AT SEPTEMBER 30th, 2011)

• SOLVENCY MARGIN EQUAL TO 1.58 TIMES THE SUPERVISORY MINIMUM

Verona, November 14th, 2012

The Board of Directors of Cattolica Assicurazioni, chaired by Paolo Bedoni, today unanimously approved the Interim Management Report as at September 30th, 2012 of the Cattolica Group¹ .

The first nine months of 2012 disclosed results on the up both on an industrial and earnings level and confirm the Group’s solid equity position. The consolidated net profit came to € 51 million, up with respect to the € 41 million in the same period in 2011 (+24.4%).

The result takes into account €16 million in writedowns² on portfolio investments. Net of extraordinary items, the net profit would have amounted to € 67 million. The Group’s net result came to € 41 million (€ 39 million at September 30th, 2011 +5.1%).

Net of extraordinary items, the Group’s net profit would have come to € 57 million.

Total premiums written³ for direct and indirect business, amounted to € 2,622 million (€ 2,871 million in the same period in 2011; -8.7%).

Insurance premiums written for direct and indirect business in the non-life classes rose from € 1,144 million at September 30th, 2011 to € 1,186 million in the first nine months of 2012 (+3.7%). In the motor insurance segment, premiums amounted to € 715 million, up 5.1% when compared with the same period in 2011. Premiums in the non-motor segment were also up, amounting to € 471 million (+1.7%).

With regard to life business, direct premiums written came to € 1,421 million.

The decrease with respect to the previous year (-17.1%) is in line with the market trend and is essentially due to the drop in premiums written via the banking channel which, despite continuing to feel the effects of the market situation, have however revealed a progressive improvement with respect to the first part of 2012. In detail, in the third quarter of 2012 alone, life premiums rose 6.4% when compared with the same period in the previous year.

The first nine months of 2012 confirmed the positive trend in business performance. In detail, the combined ratio⁴ came to 96%, a slight improvement with respect to September 2011 (96.9%) and the first half of 2012 (96.1%). Net of the effects deriving from the catastrophic events which took place in Emilia Romagna and neighbouring regions during the period, the combined ratio stands at 94.9%. The consolidated shareholders’ equity came to € 1,480 million as at September 30th, 2012 (€ 1,223 million at December 31st, 2011).

The increase with respect to December 31st, 2011 is essentially due to the improvement of the AFS reserve, which reflects the recovery in the value of Italian government securities in the portfolio. The Group’s solvency margin, prior to application of the ISVAP anti-crisis Regulations, stood at 1.58 times the supervisory minimum (1.25 times as at December 31st, 2011); taking into account the application of the ISVAP anti-crisis regulations, the margin was 1.61 times the supervisory minimum (1.40 times as at December 31st, 2011). Investments amounted to € 15,644 million. Gross technical provisions for non-life business amounted to € 2,976 million, while life provisions, inclusive of financial liabilities, came to € 12,311 million. The result of investments⁵ net of writedowns came to € 392 million in the first nine months of 2012 (€ 285 million as at September 30th, 2011; +37.5%).

Sales Network

The process for the rationalisation of the agency network continued; at the end of September 2012, there were 1,374 agencies. Bank branches which placed Group products as at September 30th, 2012 numbered 6,007. 

Outlook for business activities

With regard to the latter period of 2012, consolidation is expected of the technical results for life and non-life business, continuing with the development action in the non-life classes along with attention to the trend in the life classes in relation to the complex market situation.

The continuation of the volatility of the financial markets will lead to the need to continue with the handling of investments on a highly prudent basis.

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The Chairman of Cattolica Assicurazioni – Paolo Bedoni – declared: “The figures as at September 30th consolidate and strengthen the positive trends already seen in the first half of the year. These are important figures both with regard to quality and quantity. The improvement in the consolidated net profit appears above all else to be an expression of the Company’s ability to reconcile the objective of satisfactory results with that of consolidation of a solid equity position. This is the most eloquent demonstration of Cattolica’s ability to bear the impact of the crisis and prepare itself to seize the opportunities provided by an economic pick-up which we hope is not far away”.

Cattolica Assicurazioni’s Managing Director – Giovan Battista Mazzucchelli – maintained: “Naturally we are satisfied with the first nine months of 2012 which reward the Group’s ability to register further growth in net profit under particular adverse financial and economic cycle conditions. It is important to emphasise that the profitability grows within a reference framework where the structural ratios (from the combined ratio to the solvency margin) consolidate further. All this reveals dynamism and a competitive ability which are the expression of great propensity towards innovation”.

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The Executive appointed to draw up the corporate accounting documents, Giuseppe Milone, declares in pursuance of Article 154 bis, paragraph 2 of the Consolidated Finance Law that the accounting disclosure contained in this press release complies with the documental results, the books and ledgers and the accounting entries. The Company hereby discloses that the Cattolica Group’s Interim management report at September 30th, 2012 shall be made available to the public at the registered offices and on the company’s website www.cattolica.it, as per the formalities and by the deadlines envisaged by current legal and regulatory provisions. 

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¹ The interim management report relating to the third quarter of 2012 has been drawn up on the basis of Article 154 ter of the Consolidated Finance Law and Consob Communication No. DEM/8041082 dated April 30th, 2008 and does not represent interim financial statements drawn up in pursuance of IAS 34.

² Impairment net of shadow accounting and tax effects.

³ They include insurance premiums and life insurance investment policies as defined by IFRS 4. 

⁴ Combined ratio of retained business: (1 - (Technical balance / Net premiums) inclusive of other technical items.

⁵ Financial assets excluding investments whose risk is borne by the policyholders, gross of the tax effects.