Czech Republic
Czech insurance market
The insurance market in the Czech Republic remained dominated by the top 5 insurance groups in 2019, which together generate around 83% of total premium volume.
Market growth in the 1ST TO 3RD Quarters of 2019 compared to the previous year
The growth of the Czech insurance market continued in the first nine months of 2019. Premium volume rose 5.6% year-on-year (based on the calculation method of the Czech Insurance Association ČAP) from CZK 97.4 billion to CZK 102.9 billion. The large increase was due to growth in both the non-life and life sectors. The trend reversal for single premium life insurance is particularly noteworthy in this respect. After years of decline in this line of business, a striking year-on-year increase of 27.8% was recorded in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2019.
Premiums rose 6.8% in the non-life sector. The increase was primarily due to motor own damage insurance, which recorded a major gain of 10.5%. Motor third party liability insurance also rose 8.0% due to the steady increase in newly insured vehicles. The non-motor lines of business increased by 4.3%.
The life insurance sector recorded year-on-year growth of 3.5%. Regular premium life insurance recorded a small gain of 2.9%. The big increase, however, was due to single premium life insurance, which grew to CZK 956.2 million (+27.8%).
According to Axco Global Statistics, a per capita average of EUR 542 was spent on insurance premiums in the Czech Republic in 2018. EUR 338 of this amount was for non-life insurance and EUR 204 for life insurance.
VIG companies in the Czech Republic
Market shares of the major insurance groups
After the merger of PČS and Kooperativa at the beginning of 2019, two companies now operate in the Czech Republic, namely Kooperativa and ČPP.
The 31.0% market share of the Czech VIG insurance companies made them the largest insurance group in the Czech Republic in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2019. It also held first place in the life insurance sector, and second place in the non-life sector.
VIG Insurance Group’s own reinsurance company, VIG Re which is headquartered in Prague and operates branch offices in Germany and France, is assigned to the Central Functions segment.
Financial performance indicators in the Czech Republic segment
Premium development
PREMIUMS by line of business
VIG insurance companies in the Czech Republic segment wrote EUR 1,745.8 million in premiums in 2019 (2018: EUR 1,684.2 million), representing an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous year. This increase was mainly due to good performance in other property and casualty insurance, regular premium life insurance and motor lines of business. Net earned premiums were EUR 1,312.8 million in 2019, representing an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous year.
Result before taxes
The result before taxes in the Czech Republic segment rose 3.5% year-on-year to EUR 172.5 million in 2019, primarily due to an improvement in the life insurance underwriting result (2018: EUR 166.7 million).
Combined Ratio
The combined ratio was further reduced compared to the same period in the previous year to 92.0% in 2019 (2018: 92.7%).