The Bulgarian insurance group EUROINS (EIG) - member of EUROHOLD, reported for the first quarter of 2015 a 49.5% increase of gross written premiums (GWP), up to EUR 54.5 million, according to preliminary data published by the group. Positive rates were reported by EUROINS Romania, EUROINS Macedonia and EUROINS Life, while the specialized health insurer and EUROINS Bulgaria reported negative dynamics.

The total earnings of the insurance company Ergo in the Baltic States reached EUR 5.15 million in 2014. Ergo invested a significant amount funding into reviewing its IT strategy, which caused EUR 1.99 million losses for the company, reports LETA, according to Ergo.

Last year, the market-consistent Embedded Value of the UNIQA Group before minority interests remained almost unchanged at EUR 4.20 billion (EUR 4.21 billion in 2013), the Austrian insurer said in a press release. In the life and health insurance sector, the indicator fell by 8.0% to EUR 1.57 billion (vs. EUR 1.70 billion in 2013), while the adjusted equity applicable rose by 4.0% to EUR 2.60 billion (vs. EUR 2.48 billion a year before).

VIENNA Insurance Group earned EUR 9.1 billion in premiums in the financial year 2014, an increase of 0.9 percent when adjusted for currency effects. This performance is underlined by a significant improvement of around 4 percentage points in the combined ratio, reducing it to 96.7 percent. In the CEE region, the combined ratio even amounted to just 93.4%.

The Slovenian insurance group Zavarovalnica Triglav consolidated its position in SE Europe last year. It remained the market leader in Slovenia, Macedonia and Montenegro and increased its market share in Serbia, but fell by a rank in the Czech Republic.

German Group TALANX closed the financial year 2014 with an operating profit of EUR 1.9 billion, or 7.1% more y-o-y. The net income improved by 5% to EUR 769 million exceeding the EUR 700 million outlook threshold, while the agregate value of gross written premiums increased by 3% y-o-y to a record of EUR 29 billion. At the same time, the Group's combined ratio rose slightly to 97.9% ( vs. 97.1% in 2013) "as a result of the higher burden in primary insurance", the German insurer noted in a statement.

The GENERALI Group closed 2014 with a strong growth, completing its three-year 2015 turnaround plan, one year ahead of schedule, according to the group's statement. These strategic initiatives have enabled GENERALI to improve its profitability and rebuilt its capital strength. Thus, the Italian group recorded an operating RoE of 13.2% at the end of the year (vs. 13% 2015 target; 11.7% FY13).

Despite unfavorable regulatory and economic conditions the PZU Group's 2014 financial result was nearly PLN 3 billion (~EUR 701 million). Compared to 2013, GWP went up by 2.5% to a total of PLN 16.9 billion. 2014 also marked fulfillment of the PZU2.0 strategy and work on defining strategic growth directions until 2020 (PZU3.0).

"We ended the 2014 financial year with a net profit of €16 million. Reorganisation expenses of EUR 239 million and goodwill impairments of EUR 143 million strongly impacted our net profit. Our operational result declined to EUR 388 million (2013: EUR 542 million)", said Willem van Duin, Chairman of the Executive Board.

With Group net income of EUR 985.6 million for the 2014 financial year Hannover Re comfortably surpassed the record result of the previous year and its targeted year-end profit in the order of EUR 850 million. "The successful financial year was based on a 25 percent rise in net income in life and health reinsurance and the continued good underwriting result in property and casualty reinsurance. Furthermore, we were able to slightly improve our investment income despite the challenging market environment", Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Wallin explained.

Paris-based reinsurer SCOR reported for 2014 a net profit of EUR 512 million (vs. EUR 549 million in 2013). Excluding an exceptional gain on purchase of EUR 183 million linked to GENERALI US in 2013, the net income increased by 40% y-o-y, as the company reported. At the same time, the value of gross written premiums increased by 10.4% to EUR 11.32 billion.

Austrian UNIQA Insurance Group improved its preliminary profit on ordinary activities (EBT) by 22.9% to EUR 377.9 million in 2014, while the preliminary consolidated net profit was up slightly on the previous year's level to EUR 289.9 million, the company informed in a press release.

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has strengthened its position in the Croatian market, with an increase in premium income of 3.4%. Market share grew by 0.7% pp to 8.4%, bolstering the Group's position as the country's fourth-largest insurer. Croatian Group companies recorded combined premium income of around HRK 715 million (approx. EUR 94 million).

The SAVA Re Group posted a record profit of EUR 30.5 million in 2014, 27% over the planned target, seeing for the first time the full beneficial effects of the Zavarovalnica MARIBOR acquisition and consolidation.

Fitch Ratings said it has affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of Slovenian insurer Adriatic Slovenica at BBB- and the Issuer Default Rating (IDR) rating of Adriatic Slovenica's holding company, KD Group, at BB-.

"These results show tangible progress, with all key metrics moving in the right direction. Cash is up 65%, operating earnings per share is up 10%1, value of new business is up 15%2 and book value is 26% higher. Operating expenses are £571 million lower than our 2011 base-line, debt ratios are down and our full year combined ratio of 95.7% is the best in eight years", said Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer.

SCOR has been informed of the signing of a purchase agreement by Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings, Inc. (SOMPO), a Japanese insurance company, concerning the entire holding of Patinex AG in SCOR (i.e. 7.8% of SCOR's capital and 8.1% of its voting rights). SOMPO has declared that it wishes to increase this holding to 15%, subject to the receipt of the required regulatory approvals.

In spite of passing problems insurance group UNIQA wants to keep its business in all 15 CEE countries and also in Russia and Ukraine, CEO Andreas Brandstetter told the press on Friday while presenting the figures for 2014. The interest level will be small over the next years though.

The Vienna Insurance Group's Czech subsidiaries have increased their consolidated market share in the second largest CEE to 33.7% (0.6 pp up y-o-y), significantly widening the gap to its closest competitors once again, to close to 10pp.

Swiss Re delivered a full-year net income of USD 3.5 billion for 2014, driven by a strong underwriting performance and investment results. L&H Re reported a full-year net loss of USD 462 million, reflecting the impact from several previously announced management actions as well as the unwinding of an asset funding structure supporting a longevity transaction. These are expected to enhance future profitability. Corporate Solutions generated profitable growth for the year. Admin Re® reported an excellent gross cash generation of USD 945 million, up 81.4% compared to 2013. Given the business performance and the strong capital position, Swiss Re's Board of Directors will propose a regular dividend of CHF 4.25 and a special dividend of CHF 3.00 per share. In addition, Swiss Re's Board of Directors proposes a public share buy-back of up to CHF 1.0 billion.