News
ERGO companies in the Baltic’s collected more than 140 million euros in insurance premiums in 2009
2010-02-26
The ERGO companies in the Baltic’s collected 140 million Euros worth of insurance premiums in 2009 and earned a profit of 12 million Euros according to IFRS. ERGO preserved profit compared to the previous year, ibid collected premiums decreased by 31%.
The market share of the ERGO companies in the Baltic’s reached 12% by the end of the year and is the third largest insurance group of its type in the Baltic region. The results from 2009 show that the Baltic companies contributed about 6,8% of the profit to the ERGO Insurance Group worldwide and 1% of the turnover.
The Chairman of the Management Board of ERGO companies in the Baltic’s Dr. Kęstutis Bagdonavičius said the group’s Baltic companies achieved excellent results, which comply with the profitable growth strategy of the ERGO Insurance Group, regardless of the demanding economic environment. “Despite the shrinkage of the Baltic insurance market and tough competition, ERGO managed to maintain a profitability comparable to that of the previous year due to prudent underwriting policy, professional investment management, adapting the organisation to market developments and focus on efficiency," added Dr. Kęstutis Bagdonavičius.
The ERGO Baltic group’s life and non-life insurance companies collected 54 million Euros of insurance premiums in Lithuania, 51 million Euros in Estonia and 35 million Euros in Latvia. Contributions to the profit amounted to 6 million Euros (51%) by Estonia, 3,2 million Euros (27%) by Latvia and 2,6 million Euros (22%) by Lithuania.
As in previous periods, motor hull insurance premiums (29,6 million Euros), motor third party liability insurance premiums (29,1 million Euros) and property insurance premiums (25,3 million Euros) formed the majority of the insurance premiums collected in the Baltic States.
ERGO in the Baltic’s paid out 102 million Euros in indemnities in the previous year, the majority of which indemnified motor hull and third party insurance incidents. Indemnities decreased by 9,6% in comparison to the same period in 2008.
Dr. Kęstutis Bagdonavičius says that the market shrinkage has created an increasing need for effective and innovative business activities. “In 2009 ERGO carried out many activities in the Baltic States that improve the efficiency of our resources and processes. However, we did not compromise on client services, product development or claims handling and have therefore managed to keep our client portfolio on a similar level as in the previous year," noted Dr. Kęstutis Bagdonavičius.
In 2009, ERGO has successfully continued to improve its health insurance portfolio and hold the stable key position between leading health insurers in Latvia. The ERGO companies also improved their positions on the life-insurance market in Latvia and Lithuania through signing the contract of acquisition of the portfolio of the Norwegian life insurance company Vital Forsikring ASA and concluding strategic co-operation with DnB Nord Bank.
In Estonia and Lithuania ERGO has increased quality and efficiency of the sales processes. ERGO has completed the restructuring of the sales network of its Estonian companies, which lead to an improvement of the companies’ results at 3th Q/2009. In Lithuania has ERGO built a new sales network for Life products. ERGO Latvia in 2009 doubled count of issued policies in on-line sales channel.
In Lithuania and Latvia, ERGO has achieved significant growth in private clients segment, especially in property and liability insurance business lines. Also ERGO has launched an innovative insurance product in Estonia, which grants clients one extra type of insurance free of charge when buying property or motor hull insurance and started providing free replacement cars with motor hull insurance.
ERGO is one of the leading insurance groups in the Baltic States operating on the life, health, non-life insurance and pension funds. Almost 400,000 clients in the Baltic States trust the services, expert knowledge and financial stability of ERGO. The ERGO companies in the Baltic’s belong to one of the biggest insurance groups in Europe, the ERGO Insurance Group, which serves 40 million clients in more than 30 European and Asian countries. The majority owner of the ERGO Insurance Group is Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance groups.