May 23 (SeeNews) - Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) said on Wednesday that it has posted a pre-tax profit of 4.1 million euro ($4.8 million) from its operations in Romania in the first three months of 2018, up 27.3% on the year, according to preliminary data.
This increase in profit was due to a significant improvement in the combined ratio (CoR) and to the consolidation of AXA Life,
the company said in a conference call presentation of its first-quarter preliminary unaudited results posted on the corporate website.
In August 2016, the group agreed to acquire France-based AXA Group's life and savings insurance operations in Romania.
Total gross written premiums of VIG's Romanian units rose by an annual 11.4% to 146.6 million euro in January-March, due to strong motor third party liability premiums (MTPL) business.
VIG's premiums from MTPL insurance in Romania jumped by 33.2% on the year to 54.8 million euro in the first quarter, while casco premiums rose 11.4% to 32.1 million euro and other property premiums grew 5.4% to 28.9 million euro.
Premiums from regular life insurance on the Romanian market rose 9.2% year-on-year to 11.9 million euro, while single life insurance fell by 22.2% to 16.7 million euro. Health insurance premiums grew by 18% to 2.1 million euro in the three months through March.
The group's net combined ratio in Romania improved to 97.7% in the first quarter of 2018 from 98.1% in the year ago period.
VIG's operations in Romania posted a pre-tax profit of 3.2 million euro in 2017, compared to a 1.5 million euro profit in 2016.
In Romania, VIG is represented by three insurance companies - Omniasig Non-life, Asirom, BCR Life and Axa Life.
($= 0.8533 euro)