Asirom steps into the black after two years

Insurance company Asirom managed to turn a profit last year, after two years of massive losses and now says profit takes precedence over its market share. Asirom, the second largest insurance company on the market, posted total revenues worth 638 million RON (181 million euros) last year, up 8% against 2005, 598 million RON (170 million euros) of which were gross underwritten premiums. Underwriting saw a faster growth rate on the life insurance market (of almost 5% in RON) reaching 87 million RON (24.7 million euros). At the same time a slower pace was recorded on the general insurance segment (of 4% in RON), to 511 million RON (145 million euros). The biggest growth in Asirom’s portfolio came from fire insurance, insurance against natural disasters (above 35%) and agricultural insurance (above18.5%). However, Asirom’s growth in business was a lot slower than the market’s rate, which went up 34% in euros, to 1.6 billion euros. As a result, Asirom continued to see a decline in its market share, from 13% in 2005 to around 10.6% last year.