The past decade has been a difficult one at every level. Highly exposed to Eastern European countries, where its competitors were willing to sacrifice profitability in order to win market share, the mutualist had no choice but to endure and urge its shareholders to be patient.

These worries went hand in hand with falling interest rates, which severely penalized the Group's investment activities, despite the fact that it was a heavyweight in the life insurance sector. As a result, the cycle opened with a formal notice from the regulator, requiring the Group to replenish its reserves to bring its solvency ratios up to standard.

Despite the Ukraine, despite the Boris storm, despite markets in Eastern Europe where competition remains fierce, Vienna Insurance Group is gradually picking up the sale. This is evidenced by premium volumes that have been rising sharply for several quarters now, while the rise in interest rates - still timid in Europe - has already provided a breath of fresh air over the past two years.

The Group - which published its nine-month results yesterday - is maintaining this momentum this year, with volumes still on the rise and pre-tax profit up 8.5% on the same period last year. The Group's presence in Poland, Croatia and Romania has served it well in this respect, although there remains the thorny question of Ukraine, where visibility is nil.

While progress has been made, the Group's profitability remains - slightly - below that of European benchmarks such as Allianz or Axa. It's only a short step from there to thinking that this justifies the Austrian company's very steep equity discount to them, a step that some investors tempted to bet on catching up could quickly take.