VIG's profit in Romania, down by 73%, to 12m euros

Vienna Insurance (VIG) insurance group, including companies Asirom, Omniasig, Omniasig Asigurari de Viata, BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata, in the first half saw its non-life gross underwritten premiums go down by 18% from the same period of last year, to 278.4m euros. The Austrians say the trend of premiums was hurt by RON decline, calculated at over 15.5%, and also by costs related to the restructuring and consolidation of its five entities. The decline on the non-life segment could not be offset by the 64.6% rising premiums from life insurance to 34.6m euros. Thus, VIG overall registered 13.2% lower total underwritten premiums in Romania in the first half of this year, to 313m euros, accounting for 7.4% in the group’s volume. Besides falling non-life underwritten premiums, VIG also saw a 77% higher claims rate in the first six months (from 75.5% in the first half of 2008), mainly from car insurance. The group is again quoting the negative impact of RON depreciation. The five Romanian insurers cumulated gross income of 12.1m euros in the first six months in line with international standards, down almost 73% from the first half of 2008.