Insurers Underwrote Premiums Of RON5B In January-September

Six large insurers posted higher revenue nine months into the year, but barely offset the decline of the other four.

“I see things rather gloomy. I don’t see any rebound of the insurance market and I could say this has to do with the situation of the economy,” believes Bogdan Andriescu, chairman of the insurance brokers’ association UNSICAR.

“Still, if we look at the countries in the region, I think the market would look completely different if we were more aware of the need for protection. I don’t think the insurance market will see a rebound next year, either, not with the low confidence in the system insured customers have.”

Astra, the insurer of businessman Dan Adamescu, remained the largest company in the business at the end of September. Its revenue went up 2% to RON803 million in January-September. Second leading insurer was Allianz-Tiriac, which beat Omniasig.

Allianz-Tiriac saw gross written premiums worth RON678 million, a 2% growth on the year-ago period. Its business steadied last year after having lost 20% in three years, which cost it the market leader position.

Omniasig, the company created by the merger of Omniasig and BCR Asigurari, ended the first nine months with revenues of RON632 million, down 20%. The insurer controlled by Vienna Insurance Group thus slipped to third position in its industry. Unlike Astra and Allianz, which sell both life and non-life insurance, Omniasig only sells non-life policies, a segment where it remained the second leading insurer.

French-held Groupama ended the first nine months on the fourth position, with gross written premiums reaching RON560 million, down 8% on the first nine months of last year and the decline most visible in the third quarter. The company had posted first half premium decline of 2.5%.

The surprise of the ranking came from Austria’s Uniqa, whose local insurer climbed to fifth, thanks to a 28% increase in premiums. Uniqa ranked eighth in September 2012 and posted RON443 million premiums in January-September 2013. It increased its mandatory auto liability insurance portfolio, which accounted for 38% of its total revenue in mid this year, according to the latest data available.

On the other hand, Italy’s Generali, which cleaned up its auto insurance portfolio during the crisis, continued to lose business, dropping three places from September last year to tenth. Life and non-life gross written premiums stood at RON334 million in January-September 2013.

ING Asigurari, the only insurer among the top ten selling only life insurance, ended the first nine months on the sixth place with RON408 million premiums, 1% more than in 2012. It accounts for more than 30% of the life insurance market.

Asirom took seventh place, with RON403 million premiums, down 10% on January-September 2012, followed by Euroins and Carpatica Asig, two companies focusing on auto liability insurance. The two reported RON377 million and RON358 million premiums for the first nine months, up 11% and 73%, because of significant sales of auto liability insurance policies. (EUR1=RON4.4456)

(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)

Source: companies