The Polish financial group PZU takes steps to lay the foundations of a new development direction of its business, aiming to play a significant part in the Polish banking system's consolidation and simultaneously to find a new growth reservoir for its future development. To begin with, PZU has agreed to buy a 25% stake in mid-tier Polish lender ALIOR Bank and announced it is interested in two more acquisitions as part of a plan to build a top-five banking group, REUTERS reported.

VIG Group company BULSTRAD has entered into an agreement to acquire a 100 percent stake in the company UBB-AIG and conclude a cooperation agreement with United Bulgarian Bank (UBB). This acquisition allows the Group to diversify its portfolio in Bulgaria and to increase - in the sense of its multi-channel distribution strategy - its sales potential.

The PZU Group's net financial result in Q1 2015 surpassed PLN 941 million (~EUR 227 million). Net of non-recurring events it surged up by 25.2% versus Q1 2014. ROE also rose by 5.1 pp to 27.6%. Insurance sales were also robust, with GWP amounting to PLN 4.7 billion (~EUR 1.13 billion). PZU plans to earmark nearly PLN 2.6 billion of profit as a dividend payout.

The reinsurer TRUST Re reported a consistently strong performance for the first quarter of the year with gross written premium of USD 204.5 million, representing a rise of 4.9% compared to twelve months ago.

In 1Q 2015, the Slovenian insurance-reinsurance group SAVA raported 4.5% increase in GWP to EUR 152.5 million "primarily from international reinsurance business and from its Macedonian and Montenegrin operations", the company said in a statement. At the same time, SAVA Re Group generated a net profit of EUR 10 million, which is 32.3% more than in the same period last year and "more than budgeted for the first quarter".

Austrian insurance group UNIQA reported for the first three months of 2015 a pre-tax profit of EUR 94 million, 15.5% up on the previous year's level, while the net profit increased by 37.5% to EUR 76.9 million "as a result of relatively low tax expenses", the company announced in a press release. For the whole year, UNIQA confirmed that it is on track of increasing its pre-tax profit to between EUR 425 million and EUR 450 million: "This assumes that the capital market environment will be stable, that economic development will improve moderately and that losses caused by natural disasters will remain within a normal range".

ERGO insurance companies in the Baltic States attained a profit of EUR 5.15 million in the 2014, a significantly higher figure as compared with EUR 0,01 million in 2013. GWP by ERGO Baltic amounted to EUR 163 million, 5% up y-o-y, while the company has outperformed the average market dynamic, recording a 10.3% growth rate, against the 7.9% increase reoported by the Baltic insurance market.

The TRIGLAV Group performed well in 1Q 2015, earning EUR 31.1 million in net profit, which represents a 22% y-o-y growth. Net profit of Zavarovalnica TRIGLAV d.d. as the parent company amounted to EUR 20.2 million, representing a 6% increase over 2014.

In the 1Q 2015, Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) wrote consolidated premiums of about EUR 2.8 billion, 0.9% up y-o-y despite the marked decline in single premium policies in life. Moreover, profit (before taxes) reached EUR 130.9 million. All countries and business lines contributed positively to this result.

"The CEE market is for us still a growth area, although at this moment growth eased down a little ias we are confronted with the economic impacts, which affects the whole Europe, not only the CEE territory. This is true for many other markets as well, so we are in a phase where economics are not ideal for the insurance industry. I wouldn't see such a big difference between the CEE territories and the other markets. However, I think we have come across the biggest pain points, as I see developments slightly picking up," stated Nicola RAUTMANN, Market Executive Austria & CEE, SWISS Re for XPRIMM, on the occasion of an event organized by the Swiss reinsurer in Bucharest.

"Aegon reported disappointing underlying earnings this quarter, primarily due to adverse claims experience in the US. While the seasonal effect on claims was expected, both the number of claims and amounts were higher than anticipated. Net income was nevertheless solid, amounting to over EUR 300 million", said Alex Wynaendts, CEO.

The Italian Group GENERALI closed the first quarter with improving operating results and strong production growth. Despite the difficult macroeconomic scenario and interest rates at record lows, the Group achieved an operating result of EUR 1.3 billion (+6.0%; EUR 1.2 billion 1Q14), thanks to the on-going implementation of strategic initiatives and the favorable trend on the financial markets.

The ALLIANZ Group witnessed an 11.2% increase of its total revenues, to EUR 37.8 billion, while operating profit grew by 4.8% to EUR 2.86 billion. Net income attributable to shareholders rose 11.0%, up to 1.82 (1.64) billion EUR.

The risk and insurance brokerage services provider AON reported a net income attributable to shareholders of USD 328 million for the first three months of the year, up from USD 325 million in the first quarter of 2014, while the net income per share attributable to AON shareholders increased 7% to USD 1.37, compared with USD 1.28 in the prior year quarter.

French insurer AXA reported total revenues of EUR 31.5 billion for the 1Q2015 period, up by 2% y-o-y "driven by growth in all business lines", as the company noted in a press release.

MARSH & McLENNAN Companies (MMC) reported for the first quarter of 2015 consolidated revenues of USD 3.2 billion, a decline of 1% compared with the first quarter of 2014, "reflecting a 6% negative currency impact", the company noted in the press release. At the same time, operating income rose by 10% to USD 749 million, while the net income attributable to the Company was USD 482 million compared with USD 443 million in the previous year.

The Paris-based reinsurer SCOR reported a 30% y-o-y increase in its Q1 2015 net income to EUR 175 million, while the value of gross written premiums were up by 17% y-o-y to EUR 3.12 billion. "SCOR delivers a strong start to the year, thanks to the rigorous implementation of its strategic plan and the profitable growth of both its Life and P&C business engines. SCOR is on track to achieve the targets set out in its strategic plan OPTIMAL DYNAMICS", the company pointed out in a statement.

MUNICH Re reported a consolidated profit of EUR 790 million for the first quarter of 2015 - down by 16% from EUR 941 million in 1Q 2014. The operating result of EUR 995 million was below the figure for the same quarter last year (EUR 1,327 million), while the value of GWP grew by 0.9% to EUR 13.0 billion.

SWISS Re reported a net income of USD 1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2015 and ROE of 16.1%, "driven by profitability across all Business Units and strong investment results", while the value of earned premiums and fee income increased at constant foreign exchange rates by 7%, to USD 7.6 billion. The investment result was USD 1.1 billion (vs. USD 1.1 billion in Q1 2014), while the annualized return on investments increased to 3.9% (vs. 3.7%).

German insurer TALANX posted an 1Q2015 net income of EUR 251 million (or 16.2% more y-o-y) and gross written premiums of EUR 9.4 billion, one million more compared with the 1Q2014 figure. The operating profit (EBIT) rose by 16.1% to EUR 643 million "due, in particular, to the good results posted by Life/Health Reinsurance", the German insurer announced in a statement.