Allianz-Tiriac, the largest insurer by gross written premiums is also the leading insurer by profit. The company, whose controlling interests are held by Germany’s Allianz, posted about 70 million lei (EUR15.6 million) operating income, according to ZF calculations.
“Allianz-Tiriac’s operating income reached almost 7% of the total insurance revenue in 2015,” the insurer officials said. With premium-related revenue of more than RON1 billion, the profit stood at some RON70 million.
Allianz-Tiriac is the top performer among insurers and has always been profitable. Its net profit stood at RON55 million last year, and two thirds of it went to its shareholders as dividends. The company is one of the few insurers in Romania paying dividends on a market plagued by losses in the past few years.
Omniasig and Groupama, the largest insurers on the market after Allianz, returned to profit in 2014 and stayed in the black in 2015, when profit increased.
Omniasig, a Vienna Insurance Group company, posted RON29 million profit, almost double the 2014 level. It posted losses in 2012-2013 largely due to the restructuring process in the wake of its merger with BCR Asigurari. Omniasig is the second leading insurer by profit and gross written premiums (from both life and general insurance).
French-held insurer Groupama, too, had a good year, as the company beat its profit target. Groupama posted RON23 million profit in 2015, up 60% on 2014, the year when it stepped into the black. Groupama entered Romania in 2009, following the merger of BT Asigurari and Asiban, two companies it had bought in 2007 and 2008. The insurer posted RON805 million revenue in 2015 and set out to achieve growth of 5% in revenue and EUR6 million profit in 2016.
The main life insurers, too, made profit last year. NN Asigurari, the leader of the local life insurance market by gross written premiums, posted RON40 million operating income in 2015, up about one third on 2014. Deducting the one-off expenses (the rebranding process), its profit reached RON23 million.
Second leading life insurer, BCR Viata, another Vienna Insurance Group member, posted almost RON22 million profit.
The data about the overall profitability of the insurance sector are not available yet, but insurers most likely ended the year in the red.
Aggregate losses stood at RON123 million in mid last year, over three times worse than the entire 2014 losses. The poor aggregate result is mostly due to the general insurers whose performance usually cancels the profits of life insurers.
The main cause for losses on the general insurance segment was the sale of the mandatory auto liability insurance (RCA), but insurers say their auto liability insurance operations were close to breaking even last year. (EUR1=RON4.4919)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)