Generali sees slight growth in euros

Insurer Generali cashed 745bn ROL (some 20m euros) from gross premiums last year, up 22% in ROL from 2002. However, the revenues in euros climbed only 1% as the ROL has been losing ground against the euro. The volume of gross underwritten premiums amounted to 816bn ROL (22m euros), down 6% in ROL from 2002. The insurance market is estimated to have grown 25% in euros last year, up to some 630m euros ($720m). Generali officials say the company’s growth was outpaced by the market because the insurer has restructured its portfolio. “Whereas car insurance accounted for 65% of the portfolio at the end of 2002, it dropped to 47% a year later,” Guglielmo Frinzi, the company’s general manager, explains. ZF