Investment with potential

UNIQA remains a solid investment. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the one-off expenses associated with the new UNIQA 3.0 strategic programme, we can point to solid business development for 2020 and are proposing a dividend of 18 cents per share. As the market leader in the attractive Austrian health insurance sector and thanks to the completed acquisition of the AXA companies in CEE, which makes us a top 5 player in the region, we have positioned ourselves perfectly in our two core markets. Our medium-term growth potential is intact and, together with our robust capital resources, we have a strong foundation on which to shape a successful future.

The stock markets were mostly positive despite the Covid-19 pandemic

The 2020 equity year started on a clearly positive note for the majority of equity markets. However, the global stock market experienced a dramatic slump due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns in the first quarter of 2020. The downward trend was stopped as early as mid-March 2020, however, thanks to the broad-based rescue measures implemented by central banks and governments: the promise to provide liquidity to financial markets and government support to economies led to a turnaround in global equity markets. As a result, the majority of global stock markets had recovered by the end of the year, even recording substantial price gains in some cases. In particular, the successful development and approval of a highly effective vaccine to combat the Sars-CoV-2 virus in October 2020 further fuelled recovery on the equity markets. The example of the world stock index MSCI World, which gained around 6 per cent at the end of 2020, highlights that the rescue policy for the global stock market was successful, despite the dramatic losses in March.

UNIQA share performance

In €

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic also led to a dramatic slump on the stock markets in Europe. However, the downward trend was stopped as early as March 2020 thanks to the rescue measures implemented by the ECB and the respective governments. The European Union alone has allocated €750 billion to combat the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic with the launch of the European Recovery Plan. The ECB’s bond purchase programme (PEPP) also made a significant contribution to easing the financing conditions in the eurozone, as this was increased further several times over the course of the year. However, the market opinion is that the resulting lower yields on euro government bonds will remain at low levels in the near future. Unlike the USA, the European stock indexes have not yet been able to record a full recovery; the EURO STOXX 50 for instance showed performance of –2 per cent at the end of 2020. A return to pre-crisis levels is not expected before 2023 at the earliest according to leading economic research institutes. The pandemic’s progression and a successful vaccination policy are crucial factors in the continued recovery of the economy.

The Vienna Stock Exchange was unable to escape the fall in prices on the international stock markets. The leading index ATX, which is characterised by numerous financial stocks, lost almost 49 per cent at its lowest point in the first quarter. Although it recovered over the course of the year, boosted by the approval of the vaccine in October 2020, it still showed a loss of around 10 per cent for the year.

UNIQA shares continue to produce attractive yields

Following the successful re-IPO in October 2013 and the resulting sharp increase in liquidity, UNIQA shares have also been listed on Austria’s leading ATX index since 2014. The UNIQA share price fell almost continuously over the course of 2020 through the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It began the stock market year at €9.14 on 2 January and reached its high for the year of €9.95 on 12 February. Subsequently, however, the share price fell to around €6 and remained within this range over the summer months. The UNIQA share reached its low for the year of €4.78 on 29 October 2020, only to rise slightly after this. In the end, the UNIQA share closed the 2020 stock market year at €6.40, thereby recording a year-on-year loss of around 30 per cent. The benchmark index for the European insurance industry, the Euro Stoxx Insurance, fell by around 11 per cent in the same period. At the beginning of 2021, the price of UNIQA shares moved sideways and amounted to €6.47 on 22 March 2021.

Shareholder structure unchanged

The shareholder structure of the UNIQA Group continues to be stable: the core shareholder UNIQA Versicherungsverein Privatstiftung (Group) holds a total of 49.0 per cent of the UNIQA shares. Of these, 41.3 per cent belong to Austria Versicherungsverein Beteiligungs-Verwaltungs GmbH, while UNIQA Versicherungsverein Privatstiftung holds 7.7 per cent. Raiffeisen Bank International AG is another core shareholder that holds 10.9 per cent of shares through RZB Versicherungsbeteiligung GmbH. Finally, the core shareholder Collegialität Versicherungsverein Privatstiftung holds 3.0 per cent of the UNIQA shares. The company’s portfolio of treasury shares remains unchanged at 0.7 per cent. The free float amounted to 36.4 per cent by the end of 2020, and therefore represented more than one-third of total shares and a value of around €800 million.

The shares of the three core shareholders are counted together as a result of their pooled voting rights. Reciprocal purchase option rights have also been agreed.

Shareholder structure

Dividend of 18 cents – despite the coronavirus and restructuring

Conscious of our responsibility for UNIQA’s long-term sustainable development, and knowing that the capital invested by our shareholders is a concern of ours, it is important to us that our shareholders receive a fair share of the company’s profits. On the basis of the separate financial statements of UNIQA Insurance Group AG, the Management Board will therefore propose to the Annual General Meeting the payment of a dividend of €0.18 per dividend-bearing share for the 2020 financial year. This means a dividend payment of around €55 million.

Our new UNIQA 3.0 strategy includes clear operational and financial targets up to 2025, including a return on equity of between 8 and 10 per cent and a payout ratio of between 50 and 60 per cent of consolidated profit. We therefore want to return the dividend per share to the level of the pre-coronavirus era in the medium term and increase it annually in line with rising company results.

Changes in the UNIQA dividend

In € (indexed)

In constant dialogue with the financial community

We attach the utmost importance to providing our shareholders, analysts, as well as the entire financial community with regular, comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding the company’s ongoing performance. To this end, UNIQA’s management team was available to answer questions from investors and analysts at numerous roadshows and investor conferences in 2020 and held a large number of one-on-one meetings. All reports and corporate information can be accessed online at www.uniqagroup.com. In addition, our investor relations team is ready to answer individual questions at any time.

UNIQA Insurance Group AG
Investor Relations
Untere Donaustrasse 21, 1029 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: (+43) 01 21175-3773
E-mail: investor.relations@uniqa.at