Fortis has finalised its strategic review, which began in May of this year, immediately following the approval by shareholders of the transactions with BNP Paribas, Fortis Bank and the Belgian State.
The key elements of this strategy are:
- Fortis is in a strong position to prosper as an international insurance group, excelling in partnerships in Europe and Asia
- Current capitalisation levels, which are among the strongest in the industry, are deemed appropriate in the current circumstances
- About half of the capital of the General Account is considered to be discretionary capital. Part of this will be reserved for prudential reasons; the remainder could be allocated to a number of potential investments. Fortis does not intend to buy back the hybrid instruments issued at this stage
- Fortis intends to resume payment of a regular annual cash dividend of 40% to 50% of the net profit of the insurance activities
- Fortis will continue to proactively manage the legacy issues in order to maximise long term value. A Public Offer on the EUR 1.0 billion outstanding debt of Fortis Finance was announced on 24 September
Bart De Smet, CEO of Fortis, summarizes:
“After the significant changes that have happened over the last year Fortis has regained stability. The strategic review was an important exercise, which allowed us to review in detail where we are today and where we want to be in the future. Management is committed to delivering a solid performance, combining profitability and growth, measured against a set of key performance indicators. We will provide an update of our performance in 2009 in relation to these indicators when we publish our full year 2009 results. Having completed this strategic review I feel very confident that we are well positioned to continue to build our franchise as a solid and conservatively managed international insurer with a good balance between stable cash generative activities and exciting growth opportunities built on our well established expertise and partnership skills.”
