Vienna Insurance business stagnates at 615m euros

The three insurance companies held in Romania by Austria’s
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) posted 614.8 million euros (2.6
billion RON) in gross underwritten premiums last year, similar to
the 2008 level, according to data provided by the officials of the
Vienna-based group. For this year VIG expects a moderate growth of
the business for the group as a whole. “We expect a single-digit
rise in gross premiums underwritten by the company. Pre-tax profit
could however go up by at least 10%,” said Gunter Geyer, VIG’s
chairman of the board. The group’s business on the life insurance
segment in Romania doubled last year, to 86.4 million euros in
gross underwritten premiums, from 38.9 million euros in 2008. VIG
completed the takeover of insurance operations of Erste Bank in
Central and Eastern Europe, incorporating BCR Asigurari insurance
company and BCR Asigurari de Viata life insurance company. BCR
Asigurari de Viata posted 160 million RON (around 40 million euros)
in gross underwritten premiums in 2008, according to statistics of
CSA (The Insurance Supervisory Commission). On the general
insurance segment, the Romanian businesses of the Austrian group
fell by 8% in 2009, to 528 million euros in gross underwritten
premiums in 2008.