Asirom steps into the black after massive losses

Asirom, one of the biggest insurers domestically, managed to make profit last year, after logging cumulated losses of around 30m euros in 2008 and 2007. The company controlled by Austria’s Vienna Insurance Group for 2009 reported net income worth 4.9m RON (1.2m euros). Insurers’ losses have become a common thing in recent years, as some companies are driving prices too low, particularly for civil liability car insurance, to bite into rivals’ market share. Thus, insurers’ shareholders have pumped hundreds of million euros in these companies in recent years. “We stepped into the black because we analysed our business model, we more carefully carried out claim settlement and we chose not to embark on dumping. At the same time, we centralised our entire administrative operation in Bucharest,” added Boris Schneider, Asirom’s general manager. Asked whether centralisation meant redundancies, Schneider did not comment. Market sources say Asirom is cutting the number of employees by several hundred persons.