Ilmarinen's solvency withstands hard times as well
Preliminary information on the financial statements of Ilmarinen for 2008
In 2008, the return on Ilmarinen’s investments, at market prices, was approximately -17.5 per cent (5.7 per cent in 2007). At year-end, the solvency margin was about 14.6 (32.5) per cent of the technical provisions, 2.1 times (2.0 times) the solvency limit.
According to CEO Harri Sailas, the solvency of the company has a solid basis, although the market situation has been historically difficult, and the investment income of employment pension funds all around the world are clearly in the red. He points out that the result of an employment pension company should be assessed over a long time span.
“Now one needs to keep one’s head. The worst thing to do would be to destroy future investment income by panicking and selling shares, the value of which may rise in the near future. What looks like a loss in the investment market today, might be a key to success tomorrow.”
Additionally, the proportion of Finnish investments in Ilmarinen’s portfolio remains strong. “In fact, we have acquired more shares of domestic companies. Our objective is to continue to be a long-term, responsible owner of Finnish companies. Ilmarinen has also financed Finnish companies with considerable sums, as their financing situation tightened during the autumn,” says Sailas. By the end of 2008, the total amount of loans Ilmarinen granted to companies increased to almost EUR 2.7 billion from the EUR 1.2 billion at year-end in 2007.
Ilmarinen did exceptionally well in the employment pension insurance competition. The premiums written increased by approximately 18 per cent, exceeding EUR 3.2 billion.
About EUR 32 (74) million will be allocated for client bonuses, corresponding to 0.2 (0.6) per cent of the insured total payroll. “For the bonuses, we will use a sum that is pretty much equal to the money that our efficient operations have saved for our customers,” Sailas estimates.
These figures are preliminary. Ilmarinen’s official financial statements for 2008 will be published on 24 February 2009.
For more information, please contact:
- Harri Sailas, President and CEO, tel. +358 10 284 3000
- Jaakko Tuomikoski, Deputy CEO, tel. +358 10 284 3447, +358 50 66398
- Timo Ritakallio, Deputy CEO, tel. +358 10 284 3838, +358 500 536 346
- Päivi Sihvola, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, tel. +358 10 284 3590, +358 40 757 4992