Česká pojišťovna increased gross premium written
Prague (23 May 2008) – Based on the Czech Insurance Association methodology, Česká pojišťovna´s total premium written for Q1 2008 reached CZK 10.5 billion, compared to the same period of 2007 year´s amount of CZK 10.3 billion. The premium written increased year-on-year both in the life as in non-life insurance. Impact of Emma windstorm in combination with the global turmoil in financial market led to temporary drop of net profit to zero in the first quarter of 2008. In spite of this our operating results are better than planned as a result of prudent underwriting, solid reinsurance arrangements, effective claims management and expense control. “The company is not exposed to sub-prime mortgages or related financial instruments which have caused write offs at several financial institutions,” said Lard Friese, CEO of Ceska pojistovna. “As soon financial markets recover, like they did in April, we will see a strong improvement of Ceska pojistovna’s overall profit,” he added.
The underlying insurance business is strong and delivers better than expected results. In the area of life insurance, the premium written increased by 6 percent to CZK 3.4 billion. „In the regular life insurance area, which stands for the insurance company’s most important category, the new business volume went up year-on-year by 27 percent. This indicates a growth of the premium written in the future,“ commented Lard Friese. The premium written in non-life insurance grew to CZK 7.1 billion. Agriculture insurance and travel insurance saw the largest growth of 16 percent, the large risks insurance increased by 12 percent.
CP´s shareholders equity as at 31 March 2008 reached CZK 16.9 billion. Total assets as at the same date amounted to CZK 122.5 billion and technical reserves grew by a billion to CZK 91.6 billion.