Last month, Danish ICMIF member GF Forsikring published its annual report for 2023 with the good news that members will once again benefit from a profit distribution of more than DKK 215 million and also avoid extraordinary price increases for the second year in a row. This, says GF Forsikring, is despite 2023 being a year with wild and unpredictable weather which led to members having to make claims for damage which incurred as a result of the bad conditions.

GF Forsikring’s board of directors approved the report for 2023 in April 2024, allowing the company to take final stock of a year where the weather really had a detrimental impact. Overall, the company came out with a profit after tax of DKK 328 million compared to DKK -295 million last year.

The technical result for 2023 totalled DKK 118 million, which the mutual insurer says is better than expected. The company chose to maintain its investment strategy despite the turmoil in the financial markets in 2022, and this proved to be successful. The investment result for 2023 therefore totalled DKK 333 million.

Stable prices and satisfied members

“Once again, we were able to share a profit with our members while keeping prices stable. 2023 was a year in which our member-owned business model once again proved its worth. Despite extreme weather and an inflation rate that is still not completely under control, we were able to report a profit distribution of more than DKK 215 million to our members at the end of the year – and at the same time, we were able to announce that for the second year in a row, we did not raise prices extraordinarily. I am really proud of this, and it is largely due to our business model with member ownership and profit sharing – and not least that our members have once again shown sensible behaviour and been good at preventing claims,” said Mark Palmberg, CEO of GF Forsikring.

“Membership growth continued in 2023, when GF Forsikring reached 350,000 members. In addition, gross premiums increased by seven per cent – and I’m pleased that despite our growth, we have some of the most satisfied and loyal members in the industry. In this year’s EPSI (Extended Performance Satisfaction Index) survey, which takes the temperature of Danes’ satisfaction with insurance companies, the industry as a whole declined, while GF Forsikring was one of only two companies to improve. Therefore, all in all, as I see it, there is a basis for continued growth in membership,” he concluded.

Good foundation for new strategy period

Last year, 2023, was the final year of the insurer’s previous strategy period, where GF Forsikring exceeded its strategic growth target of DKK 3 billion in total gross premium income with a top-line growth of seven per cent. At the same time, GF Forsikring says it is a healthy and solid business that is well equipped for the future.

The company has assessed its continued growth potential in the market to be high, and in 2024 it embarked on a new strategy period up to and including 2028. A strategy with a continued focus on growth in both the private and corporate markets and with an ambition of a top line of DKK 4.5 billion in 2028. The new strategy is called “GF in motion” and includes a wide range of initiatives, especially within digital transformation and continued development of the business organisation.

“All in all, I believe that with this year’s result, we are in a very good position at the start of our new strategy. I am thinking in particular of the fact that we have all the prerequisites to create a solid foundation for the coming years’ strategic investments in GF – including the continued strengthening of the good member experience and, not least, the further development of GF Erhverv [GF for Business] as a business organisation,” says Mark Palmberg.

GF Forsikring says the goal of its future business strategy is for it to become the leading member-owned insurance company in Denmark by 2028, with the sharing of profit as its continued purpose.

Expectations for 2024

Overall, GF Forsikring expects a positive result after profit sharing and tax in the region of DKK 250 million in 2024, assuming that there are no extraordinarily high expenses for major and weather-related claims and that the financial markets do not develop negatively during the year.

GF Forsikring says it is a very solid company and, as of 31 December 2023, had increased its equity to almost DKK 2.9 billion and strengthened its solvency ratio to 2.36.

Photo shows: Mark Palmberg, CEO, and Torben B. Pedersen, Chair, GF Forsikring (photo source: GF Forsikring)