Financial result, result before taxes and cash flow

Financial result

A detailed disclosure of the financial result (excluding at equity consolidated companies) is included in Note 16 Financial result excl. at equity consolidated companies in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

VIG generated a financial result (incl. the result from at equity consolidated companies) of EUR 1,037.5 million in 2018. This year-on-year increase of 12.2% was primarily due to income from real estate, including non-profit societies.

Result before taxes

The Group result before taxes rose to EUR 485.4 million in 2018 (2017: EUR 442.5 million). The increase in profits of 9.7% was primarily due to an improved combined ratio and good growth in the financial result.

Cash flow

The cash flow from operating activities decreased from EUR 1,269.9 million in 2017 to EUR 967.8 million in 2018 due to the reduction in single premium life insurance and an increase in claim payments. The cash flow from investing activities changed from EUR -1,328.9 million in 2017 to EUR -850.5 million in 2018. This was primarily caused by a decrease in investments due to the reduced cash flow from operating activities and an outflow of funds from financing activities. VIG financing activities produced a cash flow of EUR -264.3 million in 2018 (2017: EUR -37.9 million). The year-on-year decrease was mainly due to the repayment of hybrid capital in September 2018 and the issuing of subordinated liabilities in the previous year. The Group had cash and cash equivalents of EUR 1,347.3 million at the end of 2018 (2017: EUR 1,497.7 million). Vienna Insurance Group received a total of EUR 874.4 million in interest and dividends in 2018 (2017: EUR 897.2 million).