Agras closure almost done

Agras, the first company specialising in agricultural insurance in Romania is about to close, after shareholders have recently decided to close the last two branches of the insurer. The step was taken after, at the beginning of this year, Agras was stripped of its business, which was transferred to Omniasig, another member of the same group, Vienna Insurance (Austria). Agras, which posted about 6 million euros in premiums in 2006, is therefore left without a business and territorial network. The company could be sold along with Unita, the majority shareholder, for which Vienna Insurance has recently started to look for a buyer. The Austrians put Unita up for sale after the acquisition of BCR’s insurance business (BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata) to avoid potential trouble with the Competition Council due to the increase in market share. Agras, which only deals in farming insurance, has gone through an extensive restructuring process over the last few years, having had a 500-page reorganisation plan devised for it, according to statements from Unita management at the time. As part of this process, intended to turn the company around, the number of employees was cut down to one fifth, 55, and much of the territorial network was closed. The insurer’s business has been dwindling for a while now. The company has yet to publish its 2007 results, but revenues from net premiums underwritten had fallen 40% in the first nine months of last year to 10.8 million RON (3.3 million euros) and the losses stood at 1.15 million RON (0.35 million euros). Agras had made 0.82 million RON (0.25 million euro) profit in the same time in 2006.