Greece woes push Austrian insurer UNIQA to large loss

2/3/2012 12:40:01 PM

VIENNA - Austrian insurer UNIQA said on Friday that restructuring costs and writedowns on Greek bonds pushed it into a full-year net loss of €330 million ($434 million), according to preliminary figures. The loss, which compares with a profit in the previous year of €153 million, was larger than expected, with the firm having predicted in November that it would end the year €250-€300 million in the red. It booked a restructuring charge of €190 million and took a hit of €346 million on its holdings of Greek government debt. Its "solid" underlying business however saw premiums grow 4.4% to €5.4 billion. "We have a robust core operational business. The special effects were naturally a burden on the result for 2011, but they take the strain off us for the future," said chief executive Andreas Brandstetter. In November the firm slashed the value on its accounts of its portfolio of Greek sovereign debt to 35% of its nominal value of €480 million. Private-sector creditors holding about €200 billion worth of Greek sovereign bonds are being asked to accept a writedown in value of "70% or more," Deutsche Bank head Josef Ackermann said this week. Negotiations with private investors of Greek sovereign debt are at an "ultra difficult" stage, the chairman of the Eurogroup gathering of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday. Copyright AFP All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without prior permission in writing from AFP.

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