OVB in its 50th anniversary year: highest sales in the company’s history
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Cologne, 23 March 2021. OVB achieved its best sales result in company history in 2020, its 50th anniversary year, with brokerage income rising by 4.9% to €270.6 million. The number of customers advised by OVB in 15 European national markets increased by 5.5% to almost 4 million. The OVB sales team expanded to 5,248 full-time financial advisors. “Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we successfully maintained growth and improved all key performance indicators, in some cases substantially,” said OVB CEO Mario Freis.
Consistent implementation of the “OVB Evolution 2022” strategy, the increased pace of digitalisation and strong commitment shown by financial advisors in the particularly challenging year that was 2020 are the basis for business success in the past financial year.
Thanks to excellent business performance in the anniversary year 2020 and the continued positive outlook for 2021 as a whole, at their meeting on 17 March 2021 the Executive Board and Supervisory Board resolved to recommend that the Annual General Meeting for the 2020 financial year distribute a one-time anniversary bonus of €0.25 in addition to the stable dividend of €0.75 per share.
Key figures in detail
In the strongest segment, Central and Eastern Europe, brokerage income rose significantly by 6.0% from €122.9 million to €130.4 million. Business performance was particularly strong in Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the Germany segment, brokerage income was almost on par with the previous year at €61.3 million (previous year: €61.6 million). Brokerage income in the Southern and Western Europe segment came to €78.9 million, also up by a significant 7.6% on the €73.3 million generated in the previous year. Sales growth was particularly substantial in Switzerland, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
EBIT for the Central and Eastern Europe segment increased dynamically by 28.0% from €11.1 million to €14.2 million. In particular, the national markets in the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Slovakia enjoyed a considerable earnings upturn. EBIT in the Southern and Western Europe segment declined by 13.5% from €4.8 million to €4.2 million, in part due to higher digitalisation expenses, while operating income in the Germany segment increased by 2.6% from €7.9 million to €8.1 million. This put the OVB Group’s operating income (EBIT) at €14.9 million, 5.7% higher than the previous year’s figure of €14.1 million. CFO Frank Burow emphasised: “In its anniversary year, OVB boosted sales, earnings and operating cash flow. This represents strong business foundations on which to achieve the targets set out in our strategy.”
Outlook for 2021
OVB expects to continue to grow in 2021 and is aiming to further increase its number of financial brokers and customers. In 2021, OVB anticipates a slight rise in brokerage income in comparison to 2020. Operating income is expected to remain stable and in line with the 2020 financial year. Uncertainties remain as a result of the still unknown consequences of the continuing spread of COVID-19.
* Proposal to shareholders for the Annual General Meeting on 9 June 2021
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 financial consulting for private households. OVB works with more than 100 high-performance providers and uses competitive products to serve its clients’ individual needs, from subsistence and property/asset insurance to pensions and asset building and growth.
OVB currently operates in 15 European countries. 5,248 full-time financial advisors currently advise 3.96 million clients.
In 2020, OVB Holding AG and its subsidiaries generated total sales commission of €270.6 million and EBIT of €14.9 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 2020
| Unit | 2019 | 2020 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key operating figures | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 3.76 m | 3.96 m | + 5.5% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 5,069 | 5,248 | + 3.5% |
| Brokerage income | € million | 257.8 | 270.6 | + 4.9% |
| Key financial figures | ||||
| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) | € million | 14.1 | 14.9 | + 5.7% |
| EBIT margin | % | 5.5 | 5.5 | ± 0.0%-pts. |
| Consolidated net income after non-controlling interests | € million | 11.0 | 10.5 | - 4.8% |
| Earnings per share (basic) | € | 0.77 | 0.74 | - 4.8% |
| Dividend per share* | € | 0,75 | 0.75 + 0.25 | + 33.3% |
* Proposed for 2020
Key figures by region for financial year 2020
| Unit | 2019 | 2020 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central and Eastern Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 2.52 m | 2.70 m | + 7.0% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 2,919 | 3,071 | + 5.2% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 122.9 | 130.4 | + 6.0% |
| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) | € million | 11.1 | 14.2 | + 28.0% |
| EBIT margin | % | 9.0 | 10.9 | + 1.9%-pts. |
| Germany | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 612,982 | 609,432 | - 0.6% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 1,295 | 1,242 | - 4.1% |
| Total sales commission | € million | 61.6 | 61.3 | - 0.4% |
| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) | € million | 7.9 | 8.1 | - 2.6% |
| EBIT margin | % | 12.8 | 13.2 | + 0.4%-pts. |
| Southern and Western Europe | ||||
| Clients (31/12) | Number | 619,374 | 652,934 | + 5.4% |
| Financial advisors (31/12) | Number | 855 | 935 | + 9.4% |
| Total sales commision | € million | 73.3 | 78.9 | + 7.6% |
| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) | € million | 4.8 | 4.2 | - 13.5% |
| EBIT margin | % | 6.6 | 5.3 | - 1.3%-pts. |