Unita up 46% on comprehensive insurance in first half

Unita, a company currently involved in a takeover at the hands of Austrian Uniqa group, posted a 46% increase in its comprehensive auto insurance in the first six months, to 132.5 million RON (36.1 million euros). This is the most important line of business for the company and accounts for 49% of its portfolio. The auto liability insurance business, however, fell 13% during this period and reached 94.3 million RON (25.7 million euros). The share of this segment in the total gross underwritten premiums stands at 35%. “The decline on the auto liability insurance was due, on the one hand, to the better quality and profitability management of the existing portfolio, and, on the other, to the shift in underwriting to other lines of business, which are more profitable,” Unita officials stated. The company posted 1.4 million RON (0.4 million euro) gross profit in the first six months, as a result of the application of portfolio restructuring steps, in order to boost non-auto insurance. Unita posted 5 million euro losses in 2007. Gross underwritten premiums amounted to 270.5 million RON (73.7 million euros) in the first half.