Vienna Insurance Group posts 522 million Euro profit in 2019, exceeds 10 million Euro premium volume

Vienna Insurance Group posted a profit (before taxes) around 522 million Euro in 2019, slightly above the target range and 7.4% higher than the result in the previous year. The increase in profit was due to a clear combined ratio improvement and, among other things, a significant increase in the profits contributed by Austria (+37 million Euro) and Poland (+37 million Euro).

With the exception of Romania, all segments earned profits (before taxes). 53% of the profit (before taxes) was achieved in the CEE region.

“We significantly improved our key financial figures for the fourth year in a row. These results confirm our position as market leader in Austria and the CEE region. They also underpin the growth potential in our markets that we have successfully made use of for exactly 30 years. Undoubtedly, the Corona situation will have an impact on our business development. At the moment, the effects on the Group are yet to be estimated. We emphasised safety and security measures for our employees and customers and ensured the continuous business operations in all our countries. We are constantly in contact with our insurance companies to encourage the containment of the virus. Regardless of the current situation, we will be proposing in the fourth subsequent year to the Annual General Meeting a significant increase of the dividend from EUR 1.00 to EUR 1.15 per share for the financial year 2019 due to the excellent business performance achieved in the previous year. This is an increase of 15% and corresponds to an attractive dividend yield of 4.5%,” explained General Manager Elisabeth Stadler.

 Premium growth dominated by the non-life business

A significant rise of 7.7% pushed total premiums written in 2019 above the EUR 10 billion threshold for the first time, to EUR 10,399.4 million. Without exception, all sectors recorded growth and contributed to the year-on-year increase in premiums of around EUR 742 million. The other property and casualty and comprehensive motor business dominated with respect to absolute premium growth. Health insurance recorded the largest percentage increase of around 12%.

The non-life sector represents around 58% of the premium portfolio (motor third party liability, comprehensive motor, other property and casualty insurance), life insurance around 35% (regular premium, single premium products) and health insurance around 7%. The largest premium gains were recorded in the segments Poland (EUR +234.2 million), Baltic states (EUR +124.5 million), Austria (EUR +103.4 million), Remaining CEE (EUR +72.2 million) and Czech Republic (EUR +61.6 million).

The Baltic States (+33.1%), Bulgaria (+30.7%), Poland (+26.1%) and Remaining CEE (+19.3%) segments stand out in terms of percentage premium growth. In the Remaining CEE segment, Ukraine (+58.2%), Bosnia-Herzegovina (+37.6%) and Serbia (+14.0%) recorded especially large premium growth.