Vienna Insurance : annual result for 2017 confirmed a clear improvement in all key figures

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has published its Group Annual Report for the financial year 2017 on 18 April 2018 on www.vig.com. This confirmed the preliminary figures published earlier on 22 March 2018. At the same time, VIG is also making its first sustainability report available online. The Supervisory Board has approved the Managing Board's proposal for a dividend of EUR 0.90 per share.

Solvency ratio further increased
Premium volume increased to around EUR 9.4 billion (+3.7 percent). Profit (before taxes) rose to around EUR 443 million (+8.8 percent). The combined ratio improved to 96.7 percent (2016: 97.3 percent). VIG's solvency ratio, calculated at the level of the listed Group, was 220 percent at the end of 2017, which was significantly higher than the year before (2016: 195 percent). The embedded value for the life and health insurance business was EUR 4.5 billion in 2017 (+12.5 percent). Further information is provided in the English report published on VIG's website.

Thinking in terms of generations
Vienna Insurance Group positions itself as a stable, reliable partner for its stakeholders not only due to its financial results. 'Sustainability is not merely a modern buzzword for us. It has been a part of our day-to-day life for decades, because we think in terms of generations. Our core business has always required us to act in a financially sustainable manner and ensure that we can meet our long-term commitments at all times. These guiding principles are combined with social and environmental factors in our first published sustainability report', explained Elisabeth Stadler, CEO of Vienna Insurance Group. VIG asked its most important stakeholders - e.g. large customers, investors, analysts, distribution partners, media, management and employees - which topics were most important to them in terms of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The answers were used to define the key points of VIG's sustainability strategy and are included in the resulting report.

Diversity as a core value
Diversity is a key focal point. 'We have made diversity one of our core values. I consider diversity being a key competitive advantage for our Group. We promote and respect the different cultural background and individual needs in our 25 markets with our around 50 Group companies and, at the same time, benefit from an exchange of knowledge and ideas. Our sustainability report provides examples of how our companies promote our new diversity strategy, including the markets which are geographically far to the east of us', stated Elisabeth Stadler. For example, the Georgian Group company GPI Holding started a job initiative for new sales employees that was intentionally addressed to older unemployed job seekers. 600 field employees, primarily women, were hired in the last two years. The normally higher turnover rate for field employees has been dramatically reduced. The job search was accompanied by a social discourse, since the idea of working women is not yet socially accepted in some cultures. The GPI Holding initiative has already received a number of awards and has been adopted in other industries.