Insurers receive 100m euros from shareholders in one month

Insurance companies received record-high capital injections in February, worth almost 100 million euros, according to data recently published by the National Trade Registry (ONRC). In January, capital increases in the insurance sector amounted to around 17 million euros, whereas in the whole of last year, their overall value stood at 271 million euros (998 million RON). Insurers need capital as the market becomes increasingly tough, with losses going up every year. However, many shareholders do not know when they will be able to recoup their investments, given that their main lines of business, car and home insurance, are currently going down. The biggest capital injection in February was performed at Unita, where, according to the ONRC, the share capital was boosted by 41.7 million euros. Unita was taken over by Austrian group Uniqa at the end of last year, from the Vienna Insurance Group, with the capital increase being necessary to cover the company’s losses and to expand the business. The second and third largest capital increases targeted BT Asigurari and Asiban, held by French group Groupama, which received 21.7 million euros and 20.2 million euros respectively.