At a glance

Maintaining ongoing communication with the capital market is very important to VIG. Frankfurt, London, New York and Boston were the cities where VIG management held roadshows to meet with existing and potential investors. In addition to VIG’s basic strategy, the growth potential that still exists in the CEE region was also discussed. VIG also took advantage of eleven conferences organised by national and international banks to inform investors in other cities such as Munich, Rome and Warsaw about current developments. Private investors were able to obtain first-hand information about the Group in Vienna at the Gewinn Messe trade fair in October.

Bond issue and repurchase

On 2 March 2015 the Company issued a subordinated bond with a nominal value of EUR 400.0 million and a term of 31 years. The Company can call the bond in full for the first time on 2 March 2026 and on each following coupon date. The subordinated bond bears interest at a fixed rate of 3.75% p.a. during the first eleven years of its term and variable interest after that. The subordinated bond satisfies the Tier 2 requirements under Solvency II. The bond is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. In March 2015, the Company repurchased EUR 51,983,000 of the nominal value of Tranche 1 of the EUR 500 million in hybrid bonds issued in 2008 and EUR 35,822,500 of the nominal value of supplementary capital bond 2005–2022 issued in January 2005.

Dividend

The Group has paid out a dividend every year since its IPO in 1994. Since the capital increase in 2005, this has been based on VIG’s sound dividend policy, which provides for the payout of at least 30% of Group net profit (after minority interests) to the shareholders. The Managing Board is also following this principle for financial year 2015 by proposing a dividend of 60 Cent per share to the statutory body.

Rating: A+ with stable outlook

The confirmation of the A+ rating with stable outlook from the internationally recognised rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in July 2015 shows how solid the position of Vienna Insurance Group is. The excellent capital resources of the Group even exceed S&P’s defined benchmark for AAA. Moreover, due to its market leadership position in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe, VIG’s competitive situation was rated as “very strong”. This means that VIG continues to enjoy the best credit rating of all companies in the ATX Index.