German private health insurance sector outlook stable, says Fitch |
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Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:02
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LONDON (AFX) - Fitch Ratings, in a special report issued today, said the outlook on the German private health insurance sector is stable.The outlook reflects the agency's expectation that the number of rating downgrades and upgrades will be balanced over the next 12 months, Fitch said in a statement.Fitch said the capitalisation of German private health insurers (PHI) continued to improve in 2005, mainly attributable to an increase in hidden reserves and an increase in the equity as retained earnings have grown.In 2005 PHIs posted a significant increase in their gross profits after tax, of which 92 pct has been allocated to policyholders. Although the sector's 5.1 pct net interest for 2005 returns were significantly in excess of the statutory actuarial interest return of 3.5 pct, current interest returns have been in decline since 2001.'Though continuation of this trend currently appears unlikely to reduce net interest returns below 4.0 pct, a reduction below this level could precipitate a reduction of the maximum actuarial interest rate for some companies. Overall however, German PHIs are currently more profitable than German life insurers,' Tim Ockenga, Director in Fitch's European Insurance team said in a statement.newsdesk@afxnews.comrba/akuCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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