Výročná správa 2005 - Komunálna Poisťovňa

KONTINUITA poisťovňa, a.s.
– Member of Vienna Insurance Group
REMAINING CEE MARKETS
BULGARIA
Stake in insurer Bulstrad strengthens market position
The Vienna Insurance Group acquired majority ownership of the Bulgarian companies Bulgarski Imoti Life and Bulgarski Imoti Non-Life as long
ago as 2002. This positioned us in the rapidly growing Bulgarian insurance market as a life and general insurer with a well-developed branch network.
The foremost insurance product in the Bulgarian market is motor liability insurance, but there is also high potential in the life business. With
growth of about 50% in 2005 the two Bulgarski Imoti companies thus achieved an expansion in premiums far above the growth rate of the Bulgarian
insurance market. Since last year, both these insurers are now nearly 100% owned by Vienna Insurance Group: we bought the remaining
26% stake in each of Bulgarski Imoti Life and Bulgarski Imoti Non-Life from HUK-Coburg Holding. By our indirect investment through Kardan
Financial Services in Bulstrad, the third-ranking company in the Bulgarian insurance market, Vienna Insurance Group will strengthen its position
in Bulgaria significantly further.
GEORGIA
Dynamic growth
The Georgian insurance market has burgeoned in recent years. Thus, its premium growth in 2004 of 17.4% was twice the rate of Georgian GDP
growth. Through GPIH, the third largest insurer in Georgia, we plan to enter this country’s market via our stake in Kardan Financial Services.
CROATIA
Vienna Insurance Group among the top five
In the form of Kvarner Wiener Städtische osiguranje d.d., which writes both life and non-life insurance, Vienna Insurance Group has been successfully
operating in Croatia since 1999. With the purchase of Croatian non-life and life insurer Aurum at the end of 2004, which was merged
with Kvarner in 2005 to reap synergies, we extended our presence in Croatia. In 2005 Vienna Insurance Group acquired Cosmopolitan Life, a
life insurance firm based in Zagreb. As a result of these investments, we are one of the five largest insurance groups in the country. As part of
the investment in Kardan Financial Services, Vienna Insurance Group is also to gain an indirect stake in the insurer Helios.
POLAND
Presence of Vienna Insurance Group substantially strengthened
Poland, with a population of about 40 million, is one of the largest insurance markets in Central and Eastern Europe. We took far-reaching steps
in 2005 to further enlarge the presence of Vienna Insurance Group in this market. In the first half of the year, we bought Benefia Non-Life and
Benefia Life, which were recognized by the Polish Business Club as 2005 Company of the Year. The principal focus of Benefia Non-Life, founded
in 1999, is motor insurance. It maintains a close relationship to the Fiat group, which has manufacturing operations in Poland. In July 2005
we acquired the Polish life insurer Royal Polska, including that company’s own distribution firm. In addition, we secured from HUK-Coburg Holding
its shares in the two Compensa insurance companies, which we now own almost entirely. In the second half of 2005, as the preliminary latest
step in our Polish expansion, we were able to conclude an agreement to buy Cigna, an important non-life player in Poland.
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