Helvetia Annual General Meeting elects Yvonne Wicki Macus and René Cotting as new members of the Board of Directors

Media release

St.Gallen, 28 April 2023

 

At the Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of Helvetia Holding approved all the proposals of the Board of Directors. They also elected Yvonne Wicki Macus and René Cotting as new members of the Board of Directors. 

At its 27^th Annual General Meeting, Helvetia Holding presented the best business result in its history to the 2 279 shareholders with voting rights in attendance at the Olma show grounds in St.Gallen (representing 64.84 percent of the share capital). Based on the steady profitable growth, the dividend is to be increased on a sustainable basis. Helvetia posted 2.6% currency-adjusted growth in business volume. In addition, the core business proved resilient thanks to diversified business activities: robust underwriting and a one-off profit led to an IFRS-based after-tax profit of CHF 614.4 million. With its helvetia 20.25 strategy, Helvetia is systematically focused on customer needs and exploits organic and inorganic growth opportunities in a target-oriented manner. 

"The 2022 financial year once again demonstrated the stability and growth potential of Helvetia's business model. We have again succeeded in creating sustainable value for our shareholders", said Philipp Gmür, Group CEO of Helvetia, with reference to the 2022 financial statements. 

Chairman's address focuses on sustainability 

To add context to the key financial figures, Thomas Schmuckli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetia Holding, provided the Annual General Meeting with information on the topic of sustainability at Helvetia, highlighting that sustainability is now viewed as a comprehensive topic addressed by Helvetia within the ESG framework. Thomas Schmuckli went into greater detail on the reduction of CO₂ emissions. On the question of reducing CO₂ emissions in Helvetia's own insurance portfolio, he stated: "Our contribution toward reducing CO₂ emissions is focused on customers and solutions, and therefore takes various forms. For existing customers with CO₂-intensive business, we examine their strategy for reducing CO₂, and for new business there are exclusions for CO₂-intensive business, for instance for coal-fired power stations." 

Dividend increased by 40 rappen

When it published its 2022 financial statements, Helvetia announced that, based on the strong performance of the core business, the one-off profit from the sale of the Spanish life insurance company Sa Nostra Vida and the steady optimization of capital deployment, it would increase the target for the cumulative dividend distribution to more than CHF 1.65 billion by the end of the strategy period. The Board of Directors therefore proposed that the Annual General Meeting increase the dividend by 40 rappen to CHF 5.90 per share. The shareholders approved this proposal. 

Thomas Schmuckli confirmed as Chairman of the Board of Directors 

The Annual General Meeting confirmed Thomas Schmuckli as Chairman of the Board of Directors. All other Board members, with the exception of Jean-René Fournier, who left the Board after 12 years, were also re-elected. The shareholders elected Yvonne Wicki Macus and René Cotting as new members of the Board of Directors.  

Amendment of the Articles of Association due to the revision of company law 

Due to the revision of company law that came into force at the beginning of the year, the Board of Directors proposed that the Annual General Meeting adopt various amendments to the Articles of Association. These amendments aim, among other things, to improve protection for minority shareholders and to modernize the provisions on the holding of Annual General Meetings. The Annual General Meeting approved all amendments to the Articles of Association. 

Remuneration approved 

Furthermore, shareholders approved the total amounts of fixed remuneration for the members of the Board of Directors and the fixed and variable compensation for Group Executive Management. Finally, the law firm Bachmann of St.Gallen was confirmed as independent proxy and KPMG AG, Zurich, was once again elected as auditor. 

About Helvetia Group

Helvetia Group, with its headquarters in St. Gallen, has grown since 1858 to become a successful insurance group with over 12,000 employees and more than 7 million customers. It has been enabling its customers to seize opportunities and minimise risks for all that time – Helvetia is there for them when it matters. Helvetia is the best partner and is present everywhere that protection needs arise, with insurance, pension and investment solutions from a single source as well as simple products and processes. The insurance group knows the business, from mobile phone insurance and insurance cover for the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the long-term investment of customer assets. Helvetia develops and opens up new business models with enthusiasm and drives forward its own business in a powerful and future-oriented manner. It acts with foresight and responsibility in everything it does: for the benefit of its shareholders, customers and employees as well as its partners, society and the environment.

Helvetia is the leading all-lines insurer in Switzerland. In the Europe segment comprising Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, the company has firmly rooted market positions for generating above-average growth. In the Specialty Markets segment, Helvetia offers tailored special insurance and reinsurance cover worldwide. With a business volume of CHF 11.1 billion, Helvetia generated IFRS net income after tax of CHF 614.4 million in the 2022 financial year. The shares of Helvetia Holding AG are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

Cautionary note

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. The German version of this document is decisive and binding. Versions of the document in other languages are made available purely for information purposes. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.

This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.