Baloise insurance company has grown its business substantially last year thanks in no small measure to the exit of a key rival in the market for life insurance. The company promised to increase its dividend. 

Baloise, an all-insurer based in Basel, increased the business across all segments in 2019, it said in a statement on Thursday. The growth was mainly driven by the decision of Axa to exit the business with life insurance and by the acquisition of Belgian insurer Fidea. 

Gross premiums in non-life added 4 percent to 3.54 billion Swiss francs ($3.8 billion). Pretax profit in the division rose 7.3 percent to 399 million francs. In the life insurance business, premiums increased by 21 percent to 4.06 billion francs and pretax dropped to 274.8 million – the profit included one-time items. 

Baloise proposes to increase the dividend to 6.40 francs per share from 6 francs a year ago.

Plans for Further Boost

On the back of this successful year – with profit attributable to shareholders reaching 694.2 million francs, an increase of almost a third from a year earlier – Baloise is now poised to pursue its growth strategy. Of the current five-year plan, CEO Gert De Winter has now completed the second year. 

«The first two years of the five-year ‘Simply Safe’ strategic phase were dominated by initial experiments with new digital products and services, whereas in the years ahead Baloise’s focus will be trained on the ‘Home’ and ‘Mobility’ ecosystems,» said De Winter. «We are expanding our digital initiatives and, at the same time, working continually to optimize and widen our core business of insurance.»

Next Phase Outlook

Baloise in recent years acquired a series of smaller firms in its quest to establish an eco-system around home and mobility services. It added a shirt-laundery service, a platform for workmen and residential relocation services. Baloise also developed a fintech and a mobility platform.

The insurance will present the second phase of its «Simply Safe»-strategy at an investor day in the fall of 2020. It will also provide an update on its target of gaining 1 million new clients through its acquisition strategy.