IN H1 2009, 42.27 million lei in subscribed premiums for "Grawe România Asigurare"

Insurer "Grawe România Asigurare" saw the volume of premiums subscribed in the first six months reach 42.277 million lei, down approximately 1% YOY, according to a press release by the company. The drop is lower than the average market contraction of 3%.

In the first semester, Grawe Romania paid damages amounting to 4.555 million lei and made a gross profit of 3.82 million lei.

"Given the current economic circumstances and the direct impact of the crisis on the population"s confidence in the financial services sector, we consider the results for the first semester are good, even though they didn"t meet the prognosis made at the end of the first quarter", the press release says.

Grawe officials are hoping that numbers for the company and the insurance market would recover by the end of 2009. The company however has revised its start-of-year objective of a 15% increase in gross subscribed premiums to just 5%.

However, according to data for the first semester, Grawe will most likely meet its projected net profit of 5 million lei, company officials say. "The successful implementation of anti-crisis measures, which consist of a significant cutting of expenses, as well as a budget adjustment, are an important factor in Grawe Romania"s efforts to adapt to the current economic environment", according to the press release.

The company"s expansion goals set in the beginning of 2009 remain unchanged. In the second semester, the company intends to focus on the diversification of the range of insurance products on offer and on the opening of new offices in order to get national coverage. These two objectives will prove their importance in 2010 as well, as Grawe announced its participation in the creation of PAID (the Insurance Pool against Natural Calamities).