VIG Pretax Pft In Romania Rises 18% In 2010, At EUR28.5M

03.31.2011 By Baltatescu Anca

Vienna Insurance Group, or VIG, Thursday reported a 17.9% increase in its profit before taxes in Romania in 2010, to EUR28.5 million, despite a 13% fall in its premium revenue to EUR528.1 million.

Vienna Insurance Group, or VIG, Thursday reported a 17.9% increase in its profit before taxes in Romania in 2010, to EUR28.5 million, despite a 13% fall in its premium revenue to EUR528.1 million.

The decrease in the company's premiums in Romania in 2010 reflects the profit-oriented restructuring of the portfolio in the non-life insurance area, Vienna Insurance Group said in its annual report.

In Romania, VIG owns four insurance companies, namely Asirom, Omniasig, BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata.

On the non-life segment, the company reported premium income of EUR434.89 million in Romania in 2010. On life insurance segment, the Romanian companies of Vienna Insurance Group increased premium income by 6.8% year-on-year in 2010, at EUR93.16 million.

The company's operating costs in Romania fell to EUR152.2 million in 2010, from EUR171.5 million a year earlier.

End-2010, the insurer's local companies had 4,383 employees, lower from 5,088 employees in 2009.

Mid-2010, the Austrian group sold local life insurance company Omniasig Life, currently focusing on the development of subsidiaries BCR Life and Asirom.

"The continued challenging economic conditions in Romania were also reflected in the insurance market in 2010, where non-life insurance and the overall market declined in the first three quarters. With 20%, life insurance made a relatively small contribution to the premium volume but shows great development potential over the long term," the report says.

In Romania, the group says to have a 26.9% market share, which confers it the market-leadership position.

The group's profit before taxes rose 15.1% on the year in 2010, at EUR507.8 million.