Successful financial year in 2015: OVB Group grows profitably
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- Strongest year since the financial crisis
- Total sales commission and earnings up sharply
- Dividend increased by 5 euro cents to 65 euro cents
Cologne/Frankfurt am Main, 17 March 2016 – OVB can look back on a successful year in 2015. The European financial advisory group increased total sales commission by 5.0% to €224.7 million. Operating income climbed considerably to €14.0 million, a rise of 14.5% year on year.
“In view of the very challenging environment for our services throughout Europe, this is a very good result. This demonstrates once again that OVB’s international positioning is an important factor of our economic success. I am particularly pleased that we also generated sales growth in our home market of Germany, despite more difficult market conditions,” explains Mario Freis, CEO of OVB Holding AG.
Business development in the national segments
The Southern and Western Europe segment, which has been a growth driver for some years, increased its total sales commission by 17.8% to €51.6 million (previous year: €43.8 million). In addition to Austria, Italy and Switzerland, the sharp rise in sales is to be credited, above all, to Spain. Operating income in the segment rose by 49.1% to €6.7 million. In the Germany segment, total sales commission increased by 3.3% to €64.9 million (previous year: €62.8 million). With a slight increase in investments, EBIT remained stable at €6.5 million. Total sales commission also climbed in the Central and Eastern Europe segment, amounting to €108.2 million (previous year: €107.4 million). Sales were particularly successful in Slovakia, as well as in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Ukraine.
“We are especially pleased that OVB recorded profitable growth overall. We increased our operating margin markedly to 6.2% and also improved consolidated net income by 7.5% to €9.4 million,” commented CFO Oskar Heitz with regard to the annual results.
The shareholders will also participate in the successful performance of the business over the past year. The CEO announced the proposal to the Annual General Meeting on 3 June 2016 of the payment of a dividend from the annual results generated in 2015 of 0.65 euro cents per share, which is an increase of 5 euro cents on the previous year.
2016 priorities and outlook
OVB intends to further consolidate and develop the strengths of the proven OVB business model. Here, it will also continue to focus on successfully developing sales and income. Moreover, the Executive Board will align the corporate strategy with future market requirements.
OVB issued a cautious assessment of the prospects for business performance in 2016: “The long-term business potential for private insurance and pension provision remains unchanged. However, in the current financial year we find ourselves confronted with a difficult environment in individual markets, particularly due to further regulatory changes. In addition to this, people’s willingness to make provision for pensions is further declining in this ongoing low-interest phase. Nevertheless, we are confident that we can keep earnings stable, even with a moderate decline in sales,” said CEO Mario Freis.
About OVB Group
The OVB Group, with its holding company headquartered in Cologne, is one of Europe’s leading financial advisory groups. Since being founded in 1970, OVB’s business activities have focused on long-term, comprehensive and above all customer-oriented allfinanz consulting for private households. OVB works with more than 100 high-performance providers and uses competitive products to serve its clients’ individual needs for subsistence and pensions, asset building, asset protection and increasing assets. OVB currently operates in a total of 14 countries.
Over 5,000 full-time financial advisors currently advise approximately 3.24 million clients.
In 2015, OVB Holding AG and its subsidiaries generated total sales commission of €224.7 million and EBIT of €14.0 million. OVB Holding AG has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard, ISIN DE0006286560) since July 2006.
Key figures of the OVB Group for financial year 2015
| Unit | 2014 | 2015 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key operating figures | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 3.22 m. | 3.24 m | + 0.6% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 5,173 | 5,062 | - 2.1% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 214,0 | 224,7 | + 5.0% |
| Key financial figures | ||||
| EBIT | € million | 12.3 | 14.0 | + 14.5% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 5.7 | 6.2 | + 0.5%-pts. |
| Consolidated net income | € million | 8.7 | 9.4 | + 7.5% |
| Key Share figures | ||||
| Share capital (31/12) | € million | 14.25 | 14.25 | ± 0.0% |
| Number of shares (31/12) | Number in million | 14.25 | 14.25 | ± 0.0% |
| Earnings per share (basic) | € | 0.61 | 0.66 | + 8.2 % |
| Dividend per share** | € | 0,60 | 0,65 | + 8,3% |
* Based on total sales commission
* Proposed for 2015
Key figures by region for financial year 2015
| Unit | 2014 | 2015 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central and Eastern Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 2.21 m | 2.21 m | ± 0.0% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 3,261 | 3,087 | - 5.3% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 107.4 | 108.2 | + 0.8% |
| EBIT | € million | 10.2 | 9.4 | - 7.1% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 9.5 | 8.7 | - 0.8%-pts. |
| Germany | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 644,548 | 642,107 | - 0.4% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 1,307 | 1,309 | + 0.2% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 62.8 | 64.9 | + 3.3% |
| EBIT | € million | 6.5 | 6.5 | + 0.5% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 10.3 | 10.1 | - 0.2%-pts. |
| Southern and Western Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 364,982 | 388,728 | + 6.5% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 605 | 666 | + 10.1% |
| Total sales commision | € million | 43.8 | 51.6 | + 17.8% |
| EBIT | € million | 4.5 | 6.7 | + 49.1% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 10.3 | 13.1 | + 2.8%-pts. |
* Based on total sales commission