Garanta doubles profit in H1

Garanta Asigurari, part of National Bank of Greece, closed the first half of the year with a gross income worth almost 6.9m RON (around 2m euros), a 131% increase against the level reached in the first six months of 2006. During the same period, gross underwritten premiums fell by 8%, to 42m RON (12.7m euros). Sales doubled on the life insurance segment in the first half of this year, to 4.6m RON (1.4m euros) and shrank by 14% on the general insurance segment, to 37.5m RON (11.3m euros). “The increase we witnessed on the life insurance segment was because of the diversification of the customer portfolio and of the replacement of some accident insurance products with life insurance products in our offer,” explained Garanta representatives. They also specified that the decline in gross underwritten premiums on the general insurance segment was registered as a result of a modification of the way premiums are paid in the case of multi-annual contracts. Thus, premiums are no longer paid in advance for the entire period of the contract, but in instalments.