OVB Group achieves sales increase and significant earnings growth in 2016
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- Solid growth in total sales commission to €231.8 million
- Operating income rises significantly by 17.7% to €16.5 million
- Dividend increase of 15.4% to 75 euro cents
Cologne/Frankfurt am Main, 28 March 2017 – OVB, a European financial advisory group, can look back on a successful financial year in 2016. The Cologne-based company grew profitably in all three regional segments with 14 national markets in total. Despite the impact of changing regulatory requirements and their associated effects, the company still managed to meet its forecast for 2016, which had been increased during the year, with total sales commission up by 3.1% to €231.8 million. Operating income grew considerably to €16.5 million, a rise of 17.7% year-on-year.
Mario Freis, CEO of OVB Holding AG, is delighted with the 2016 financial year: “In Europe, we tackled the many different challenges of 2016 extremely well. We in-creased both sales and operating income, and further reduced the Group’s dependence on individual national markets for business development. For us, this is a very important strategic aspect.”
Central and Eastern Europe remains the strongest region
In the Central and Eastern Europe segment, total sales commission increased by 1.3% from €108.2 million to €109.7 million despite more challenging conditions. In Hungary, Croatia and Romania, OVB achieved significant sales increases. OVB also achieved slight growth on the Czech market. Although operating income in the Central and Eastern Europe segment continued to lag behind prior-year figures during the year, a slight increase of €9.5 million was achieved in the 2016 financial year.
Despite the noticeable impact of the German Life Insurance Reform Act, total sales commission in the Germany segment were essentially at the level of the previous year. Operating income rose by 2.9% to €6.7 million.
The Southern and Western Europe segment continued its dynamic business devel-opment in 2016. Total sales commission here rose significantly by 12.8% from €51.6 million to €58.2 million. Business development was particularly strong in Spain, Italy and Austria. Operating income in the segment rose sharply by 22.7% from €6.7 million to €8.3 million.
Oskar Heitz, CFO of OVB Holding AG, also considers the results of 2016 to be a success: “We increased our operating margin to 7.1%. Consolidated net income and earnings per share even improved by 33.7%. Continuously positive development over the past few years has allowed us to increase the dividend for the third time in a row.” The Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on 2 June 2017 that a dividend of 75 euro cents per share, representing a year-on-year increase of 10 euro cents, be paid to shareholders for the 2016 financial year.
Outlook for the 2017 financial year
The Executive Board anticipates a slight increase in sales within the Group for the 2017 financial year. As a result of increased investment expenditure to further strengthen OVB’s viability, operating income is likely to move at the level of the previous year. Thomas Hücker, COO of OVB Holding AG, explained: “OVB will tap into efficiency potential through digitalisation and combine its traditional strength – personal, trust-based contact with its customers – with current technical possibilities.
About the 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 protec-tion and increasing assets. OVB currently operates in 14 European countries.
Around 5,000 full-time financial advisors currently advise 3.27 million clients.
In 2016, OVB Holding AG and its subsidiaries generated total sales commission of €231.8 million and EBIT of €16.5 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 2016
| Unit | 2015 | 2016 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key operating figures | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 3.24 m | 3.27 m | + 0.8% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 5,062 | 4,972 | - 1.8% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 224,7 | 231,8 | + 3.1% |
| Key financial figures | ||||
| EBIT | € million | 14.0 | 16.5 | + 17.7% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 6.2 | 7.1 | + 0.9%-pts. |
| Consolidated net income | € million | 9.4 | 12.5 | + 33.7% |
| 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) | € | 0.66 | 0.88 | + 33.7% |
| Dividend per share** | € | 0,65 | 0,75 | + 15.4% |
* Based on total sales commission
* Proposed for 2016
Key figures by region for financial year 2016
| Unit | 2015 | 2016 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central and Eastern Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 2.21 m | 2.20 m | - 0.4% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 3,087 | 2,944 | - 4.6% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 108.2 | 109.7 | + 1.3% |
| EBIT | € million | 9.4 | 9.5 | + 0.8% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 8.7 | 8.7 | ± 0%-pts. |
| Germany | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 642,107 | 633,025 | - 1.4% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 1,309 | 1,300 | - 0.7% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 64.9 | 63.9 | - 1.5% |
| EBIT | € million | 6.5 | 6.7 | + 2.9% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 10.1 | 10.5 | + 0.4%-pts. |
| Southern and Western Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 388,728 | 432,712 | + 11.3% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 666 | 728 | + 9.3% |
| Total sales commision | € million | 51.6 | 58.2 | + 12.8% |
| EBIT | € million | 6.7 | 8.3 | + 22.7% |
| EBIT margin* | % | 13.1 | 14.2 | + 1.1%-pts. |
* Based on total sales commission