2020 INTEGRATED REPORT

37. GOING CONCERN The Trustees / Directors assess the Group’s future performance and financial position on an ongoing basis and have no reason to believe that the Group will not be a going concern in the reporting period ahead. For this reason, these financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. COVID-19 VIRUS PANDEMIC The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus pandemic had a significant financial impact on the financial results of the Group 2020. The financial impact is seen in the increase in long-term insurance claims (both sickness- and death claims), as well as increased variability in investment returns as a result of the volatile performance of financial markets. There was a positive impact on the Short-term insurance claims as a result of reduced activity due to the lockdown in 2020. The PPS Investments business revenue was adversely affected by the negative market performance at the beginning of the year. The impact of the virus is expected to continue in 2021, although at a lower intensity compared to 2020. The Group is monitoring the impact on a continuous basis and appropriate management actions are taken where appropriate. Impact on service levels The Group, as a financial services provider, qualified as an essential services provider, and operations have continued uninterrupted during the lockdown. All essential functions, such as the Group’s call centres, claims processing and payments, as well as Intermediary Servicing and new business administration are all operating uninterrupted, and at service levels comparable to the Group’s normal standards. Going concern and solvency PPS has prepared scenarios of the potential impact of the pandemic on its operations. These scenarios included qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results of these scenarios indicate that the pandemic will not impact the going concern status of the Group, as assets are estimated to be sufficient to settle liabilities. Although the pandemic had a material negative impact on operating profits in 2020, the solvency of the Group remains resilient and is expected to meet regulatory requirements, even under extreme stressed conditions. PPS INTEGRATED REPORT 2020 | 209