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Q1 Reports Indicate Resurgence of Health Insurance Profits
Posted on May 09, 2013 by Sergio Ulloa (G+)
The year 2012 may not have been the most flourishing of years for some health insurance companies around the globe, but data for the first quarter of 2013 looks promising for many of the world's largest, most well-established medical insurance providers. Among those releasing encouraging figures, Cigna, AXA, Munich Health and Allianz, some of the biggest players in the industry are all showing healthy signs of growth.
In just the first quarter alone, Cigna's number of international customers increased by 277,000, and data suggests that the company will see annual earnings in the range of $1.735 billion to $1.865 billion. To add to these encouraging figures, consolidated revenues are up by 21% when compared to the same time period in 2012.
Cigna's strong and promising figures can be attributed to the company's commitment to their strategy and the ability to provide valuable services and products to their international clients, said David M. Cordani, Cigna's president and CEO. He added that the company has a wide variety of solutions that fit both individuals and employers and that place high importance and emphasis on cost-effectiveness and quality. These are the features of Cigna that Mr. Cordani believes will help the company continue to see growth beyond 2013.
Meanwhile AXA, Europe's second-largest insurance group as measured by the value of the market, has reported a 3% increase in sales during the first quarter. Sales increased by 800 million Euros when compared to the same period in 2012. Much of this growth occurred outside of its European base in countries like Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia and countries in the Gulf, and the company remains committed to expansion in these areas.
For Germany's Munich Health, the company saw a slight increase in premium growth of about 0.6% but reinsurance experienced a slight decrease by 0.8%. However, analysts attribute this decline to currency fluctuations and believe that if exchange rates had not changed, Munich Health's premium sales would have seen an increase of about 1.1% as compared to 2012.
One small hiccup experienced by Munich was that business written by Munich's primary American insurer, Windsor Health Group (WHG), saw losses of about $19 million. In light of this upsetting news, Munich announced their commitment to assist with WHG's situation with great focus.
Another German insurer, Allianz S.E., reported that their net income was about $2.23 billion for the first quarter of this year, which is about $0.3 billion more than the same period in 2012. The company's operating profit also saw growth of about 20%. Michael Diekmann, Allianz's CEO of Allianz, said in a statement that the company's growth has come from all of Allianz's different business segments.
As international markets pick back up and opportunities for new growth and development open up in emerging markets, many international health insurance companies are expressing optimism for the rest of 2013. Globalsurance analysts are reiterating this enthusiasm and believe that the market and product and solution offerings will continue to expand and diversify throughout the rest of this year.