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 2023, UNIQA had three outstanding subordinated bonds with a total nominal value of about €900 million.

In order to improve the structure of our bonds, we bought back subordinated bonds with a total nominal value of €375 million on the capital market in December 2021 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. In July 2023, we also repaid the outstanding nominal value of the bond placed in 2013 in the amount of €148.7 million on the first call date, thereby repaying the bond in full. As a result, the weighted average coupon of our subordinated bonds fell to 3.88 per cent as at 31 December 2023.

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 6.5 years and a coupon of 1.375 per cent.

Green bonds – active investments in a sustainable future

Our capital structure includes a total of €575 million in green bonds. Within the scope of the respective bond issues, we have committed ourselves to investing equal amounts in renewable energy projects (wind and solar parks) as well as in sustainable waste management (waste separation and recycling, including energy production) and mobility (rail transport, local public transport). 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 reaches the AAA Level in the S&P model. After UNIQA’s outlook was downgraded from “stable” to “negative” in 2022 due to our exposure in Russia and Ukraine, S&P raised the outlook back to “stable” again in March 2023 and reconfirmed our rating of A– in November 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.