2007 was a good year for Vienna Insurance Group shareholders. VIG shares ended the year with a closing price of EUR 55.00, thereby continuing their previous positive performance in 2007 with an increase of 3.4%, and outperforming the European insurance sector (MSCI Insurance Index) by close to 14%. Following price gains at the beginning of 2007, persistent concerns over recession during the summer months sent both international stock exchanges and Vienna Insurance Group shares into a correction. The outstanding business trend achieved by the Vienna Insurance Group and the increase in its business targets helped the shares to distance themselves from the negative capital market environment, leading to a significant increase in value during the final quarter. The performance of over +22% achieved by the shares since 21 November 2007, the day on which the low of EUR 45.01 for the year was reached, shows how highly investors valued the fact that the Vienna Insurance Group was unaffected by the subprime crisis. On 18 December 2007, the shares closed with a high for the year and a new all-time high of EUR 57.90.
Vienna Insurance Group shares were also able to decouple themselves from the negative stock exchange environment in the initial months of 2008. Although the ATX suffered a drop of more than 16%, Vienna Insurance Group shares posted a comparatively small decrease of under 3%.
