UNIQA bonds: Solidly financed on a sustainable basis

Subordinated bonds – a long-term component of our capital structure

Alongside equity, subordinated capital takes second place in terms of financing our insurance business: as at 31 December 2022, UNIQA had four outstanding subordinated bonds with a total nominal value of €1,050 million.

In December 2021, we took advantage of market conditions and managed to engineer a significant structural improvement in terms of our bonds: We repurchased subordinated bonds with a total nominal value of €375 million on the capital market and refinanced them on much more favourable terms in parallel with the issue of a green bond. This enabled us to extend the maturity of our financial liabilities and, above all, to significantly reduce the interest burden in the coming years. As at 31 December 2022, the weighted average coupon of our subordinated bonds is 4.31 per cent.

Senior bond – favourable long-term financing

In addition, there is currently a senior bond with a nominal value of €600 million on the market, which we issued in connection with the acquisition of the former AXA companies in CEE. The bond has a remaining term of 7.5 years and a coupon of 1.375 per cent.

Green bonds – active investments in a sustainable future

In addition, our capital structure includes a total of €575 million in green bonds. Within the scope of the respective issues, we have committed ourselves to making investments in equal amounts in renewable energy projects (wind and solar parks) as well as in sustainable waste management (waste separation, recycling including energy production) and mobility (rail transport, local public transport). The performance of these bonds clearly shows how high the demand is for sustainable forms of investment among many investors. In terms of climate protection, we see a gratifying trend here: Sustainability has become a determining factor in investment decisions.

Standard & Poor’s confirms robust capitalisation

The current A– rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) for UNIQA Insurance Group AG reflects our financial strength. This is based on our profitable business model, our market leadership in private health insurance in Austria and our first-class capitalisation, which has already reached the AAA Level in the S&P model. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Standard & Poor’s downgraded UNIQA’s outlook from “stable” to “negative” due to its exposure in the two countries concerned. Due to the strong technical and operating result achieved in 2022, S&P raised the outlook again from “negative” to “stable” on 1 March 2023. The currently outstanding subordinated bonds are attributed entirely to capital by S&P and are therefore a long-term component of our capital strategy.