Vienna Insurance Group – outlook

The new management team of VIG will continue to pursue the proven business strategy. In addition to the Group-wide management principles practised, the insurance business as the central core competence is as strongly anchored as is its regional focus. Vienna Insurance Group remains convinced of the great potential offered by the CEE region, and is firmly committed to Austria and Central and Eastern Europe as its home market.

VIG aims to generate healthy, properly considered growth and, based on this principle, will continue in the future to follow a growth policy focusing on earnings. In doing so, the Group will continue to rely on targeted strengthening of high-margin business areas by a calculated push of property and casualty insurance and life insurance with regular premiums. In addition, Vienna Insurance Group will pay attention to potential for insurance in small and medium-size companies and place a strong focus on the area of health insurance. Furthermore, on the product and service side, there will be a new focus on digitalisation.

Based on the proven multi-brand strategy and the many well-established regional sales channels - including the successful cooperation with Erste Group - the Group aims to strengthen its market share both by means of organic growth and through further acquisitions aimed at improving its position in the markets and strategically supplementing the existing portfolio. Acquisitions will be made in areas that make sense economically for VIG in order to achieve the target market position more quickly. Countries where VIG holds top market share should be secured.

These include the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in each of which Vienna Insurance Group holds a market share of over 30%, and Austria, where it holds almost 24%. In Poland, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia, Vienna Insurance Group wants to increase its market share to a minimum of 10% in the medium term. Despite this aim, there will still be a focus on cost-effectiveness. Investigations will be done to determine where consolidations or bundling of services and processes would make sense.

With regard to the development of results of VIG, it is anticipated that the current low interest rate environment will again lead to a decline in the ordinary financial result in 2016. Vienna Insurance Group will continue to rule out boosting investment income by taking greater investment risks. While maintaining its conservative investment policy, the Group aims to at least double its profit before taxes to earn up to EUR 400 million in 2016. In addition, VIG will pursue a medium-term improvement in the combined ratio approaching 95%.