ACTIVITY REPORT 2012
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Jean-Marc Pillu, CEO of Coface: "In 2012, we combined further profitability and growth, while continuing to assist our customers"
Major achievements
With the launching of no fewer than 80 new projects, our Strong Commitment 2012 strategic plan has strengthened our position in the market.
Despite the demanding economic climate, we have brought our claims rate, and that of our customers, under control, thanks to proactive and learning focussed risk underwriting being ever closer to the reality of the risks.
In terms of products and services, we have shown our ability to innovate by launching Coface Global Solutions, an offer dedicated to multinationals, and TopLiner, additional cover, which meet a strong demand from our customers. Our complementary businesses, such as government guarantees that we manage on behalf of the French State, factoring that we are commercialising in Germany and in Poland, and the guarantee and single risk products, have been revised or reorganised to better serve our customers. Finally, to rise to all these challenges, and to progress more quickly and efficiently, our global IT organisation has been overhauled.
Our governance has been simplified. In fact, we have completed the process of regrouping our European operations into a single French law company, which includes 21 branches. We are among the first to have delivered our internal model to the French regulator under Solvency II.
From a financial point of view, this strategic plan has also been very beneficial. We have repaid our debt, increased our equity, financed our factoring business through the market and optimised our asset management.
This major strategic shift has been completed rapidly and efficiently, thanks to the unfailing mobilisation of all our global teams. These achievements serve as the foundation for building a stronger and better prepared Group for strong leadership in credit insurance and ensure its future development.
Strong Commitment 2015: Ambitious planning for the next three years
Our Strong Commitment 2015 plan is going to further consolidate these achievements. We will continue our efforts to streamline our organisation, while placing the customer at the heart of our concerns. Driving our sales forward, growing the international market, innovation and quality in our products and services, these will be our key mobilisers.
Satisfactory 2012 results for Coface in a difficult overall economic context
We have again managed to combine profitability and growth in the difficult context of a Europe still in crisis. Therfore, our credit insurance premiums rose 3.1%, driven by emerging countries (+18%). At the same time, our claims ratio and our costs have remained under control. But overall we have continued to assist our customers: our risk exposure has increased by 3.5% since the downturn in the economic cycle in mid-2011. The ratings assigned to Coface by Fitch (AA- with a stable outlook) and Moody's (A2 with a stable outlook) were confirmed in November 2012 and June 2013.
2013 Outlook
2013 will remain under the shadow of the crisis, especially in Europe. Coface, in its capacity a worldwide credit insurer, will be all the more useful in helping to guide companies through commercial transactions and protect them against unpaid debt. This is how we will be turning our new tagline into reality: ‘Coface for safer trade’.
Jean-Marc Pillu
CEO of Coface