Financial result, result before taxes and cash flow

Financial result

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

The financial result (incl. the result from shares in at equity consolidated companies) was EUR 631.9 million in 2021 (2020: EUR 596.3 million). The year-on-year increase of 6.0% was mainly due to a better result from shares in at equity consolidated companies.

Result before taxes

The Group result before taxes was EUR 511.3 million in 2021 (2020: EUR 345.9 million). The substantial 47.8% increase in profits was mainly the result of a significant improvement in the combined ratio and the good development of the financial result. In addition, the result for the previous year was reduced by EUR 141.4 million in impairments of goodwill and other intangible assets.

The business operating result was EUR 512.0 million in 2021, 5.1% higher than the value in the previous year (2020: EUR 487.3 million).

Cash flow

The significant increase in business operations was also reflected in the cash flow from operating activities, which rose from EUR 310.6 million in 2020 to EUR 522.1 million in 2021. The cash flow from investing activities decreased from EUR 98.6 million in 2020 to EUR -415.5 million in 2021 due to an increase in investments. Financing activities produced a cash flow of EUR 597.7 million in 2021 (2020: EUR -123.6 million). The positive change compared to the previous year was mainly due to the issue of the VIG Holding hybrid bond and sustainability bond. The Group had cash and cash equivalents of EUR 2,456.3 million at the end of 2021 (2020: EUR 1,745.1 million). The amount of interest and dividends received was EUR 719.7 million in 2021 (2020: EUR 754.5 million).