Baloise's Switzerland business proves robust despite challenging year

Baloise Holding AG / Key word(s): Annual Results
Baloise's Switzerland business proves robust despite challenging year

26.03.2024 / 09:00 CET/CEST

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Basel, 26 March 2024. Last year was challenging for Baloise in terms of its
operating performance. The technical result was badly affected by storms and
large claims, which saw us protect more than 10,000 customers from
significant financial losses. The volume of premiums rose by a healthy 2.7
per cent to CHF 1,468.7 million, driven mainly by the motor vehicle,
liability and property insurance sectors. The full-range financial service
offering, encompassing insurance and banking services, is proving extremely
popular with customers and is continuing to grow steadily across
Switzerland.

Baloise Switzerland's financial results for 2023

Insurance*

Clemens Markstein, CEO of Baloise Switzerland: "The storm that hit all parts
of Ticino in August resulted in an exceptionally high number of claims for
the Switzerland business in 2023. Various large claims also weighed on
profit for the year. But the business still proved robust despite it being
such an exceptional year for claims. The very good growth in premiums in the
non-life business was particularly encouraging, as were the strong earnings
in the banking business. I am confident that our programme of optimisation
is having the desired effect and that we will be able to carry on delivering
excellent results in Switzerland."

  * In 2023, the net combined ratio rose by 3.3 percentage points to 98.4
    per cent, mainly due to the impact of storm claims and large claims.

  * The premium volume in the non-life business recorded a very healthy
    year-on-year increase of 2.7 per cent to CHF 1,468.7 million.

  * EBIT in the life business fell year on year to stand at CHF 181.5
    million. Premiums in the individual life business climbed by 1.5 per
    cent. By contrast, premiums in the group life business were down by 4.6
    per cent. This reflected the continuing trend towards partially
    autonomous occupational pension solutions. The Perspectiva collective
    foundation continued to deliver encouraging growth in 2023 and now has
    4,903 corporate customers with around 21,500 policyholders.

  * Baloise has reviewed its ecosystem strategy in respect of the Home and
    Mobility ecosystems and decided not to invest any further in expanding
    them. In future, we will concentrate more on insurance-related
    activities and on generating profits from our current portfolio of
    innovations.

Banking**

"Thanks to our expertise in pensions, investments and lending, we are able
to offer our customers a range of financial advice that sets us apart in the
Swiss market," says Jürg Ritz, CEO of Baloise Bank Ltd. "And everything that
we do is focused on benefit to the individual customer."

  * Significant year-on-year profit growth
    Baloise Bank Ltd increased its profit to CHF 31.2 million in 2023 (up by
    21.4 per cent on 2022).

  * Growth in the volume of business
    Combining insurance and banking services represents a big benefit for
    customers and resulted in a significant increase of CHF 485.9 million in
    the volume of business.

  * Rising interest rates benefit customers and the banking business
    The end of the period of negative interest rates and the consistent
    lending policy of Baloise Bank Ltd led to the interest margin on the
    entire loan book of CHF 7.5 billion increasing substantially in 2023,
    with very low credit risk costs of CHF 0.2 million.

Summary of business performance for the Swiss market

Baloise's business performance in Switzerland

  Key figures (CHF million)
                                                      2023    2022    +/-
                                                                      %
  Business volume of Baloise Switzerland*             4'025-  4'068-  -1.1
                                                      .7      .8
  Of which: life                                      2'557-  2'638-  -3.1
                                                      .0      .0
  Of which: non-life                                  1'468-  1'430-  2.7
                                                      .7      .8
  Profit before borrowing costs and taxes of Baloise  166.2   289.6   -42.-
  Switzerland*                                                        6
  Total assets of Baloise Bank**                      8'731-  8'526-  0.8
                                                      .7      .6
  Net profit of Baloise Bank**                        31.2    25.7    21.4

* All figures in accordance with IFRS accounting.
** All figures in accordance with local accounting standards.

Highlights from 2023

Holiday protection proves a mini insurance revolution

Baloise's holiday insurance is turning the claims reporting process on its
head. Traditionally, it has been the customer who reports a claim and in
doing so initiates the process of verifying that claim. But with Baloise's
parametric fair-weather insurance, which can be taken out for the duration
of a holiday, the policy becomes active when thresholds for certain
parameters are reached, for example a particular volume of rain. Delayed
flights are another example of something that will automatically trigger a
claim. This makes life easier for policyholders and represents a mini
revolution in the conventional claims process.

Baloise wins two of the Swiss insurance industry's innovation awards

In 2023, Baloise won two of the Swiss insurance industry's annual innovation
awards. Its Rapid Damage Cockpit won the public award and its holiday
insurance was the overall runner-up. This reflects the exceptional degree of
innovation in Baloise's core business. The Rapid Damage Cockpit allows
Baloise to automatically contact all customers affected by a severe storm.
As with the holiday insurance, it shows how Baloise is rethinking the claims
process and taking a proactive approach to the reporting of claims, which
has traditionally always fallen to the policyholder.

Contact
Baloise, Aeschengraben 21, CH-4002 Basel
Website: www.baloise.com
E-Mail: media.relations@baloise.com / investor.relations@baloise.com
Media Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 76 09
Investor Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 81 81

About Baloise
The focus is firmly on the future at Baloise. We aim to make tomorrow more
straightforward, safer and more carefree for our customers, and we are
taking responsibility for this today. Baloise is more than just a
traditional insurance company. Through our smart finance and insurance
solutions, we offer a complete service package. Dependable support, reliable
cooperation and trust-based relationships are key aspects of our stakeholder
interaction. We take care of financial matters so that our customers can
concentrate on the important things in their lives and can find inspiration
in the everyday. Baloise, a European company founded more than 160 years
ago, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel
(Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and
Luxembourg. Our services generated a business volume of around CHF 8.6
billion in 2023. Baloise Holding Ltd shares (BALN) are listed on the SIX
Swiss Exchange.


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End of Media Release

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   Language:       English
   Company:        Baloise Holding AG
                   Aeschengraben 21
                   4002 Basel
                   Switzerland
   Phone:          +41 61 285 85 85
   Fax:            +41 61 285 70 70
   E-mail:         media.relations@baloise.com
   Internet:       https://www.baloise.com
   ISIN:           CH0012410517
   Listed:         BX Berne eXchange; SIX Swiss Exchange
   EQS News ID:    1866959

End of News EQS News Service
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1866959 26.03.2024 CET/CEST