Omniasig turnover drops 6%; profit down to one third of 2008 level

Omniasig, ranking second on the insurance market, controlled by Austria's Vienna Insurance, last year for the first time posted decline in underwritten premiums, by 6%, to 1.11bn RON (264m euros), according to the data published by the company in line with IFRS. "The several percentage points drop was registered amid the interconnection between the insurance industry and many other major fields of the economy: the car, leasing, banking and real estate sectors, which were the hardest hit by the economic downturn," explained Omniasig representatives. The company's gross income went down to 52.7m RON (12.5m euros), from 141m RON net in the previous year. In 2008, the company's profits soared after the sale of the stake in Unita insurer to Austria's Uniqa. Omniasig operates only on the market of general insurance, which shrank by 2% last year, according to the Insurance Supervision Commission data, after seeing increases of above 20% in previous years.