Extended CEE
The reportable segment Extended CEE includes the countries of Albania including Kosovo, the Baltic states, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. These countries generated 29.8% of Group premiums in 2022.
Albania including Kosovo
VIG Insurance Group operates in the Albanian insurance market with Sigma Interalbanian and Intersig. With a market share of 20.0% it ranked second in the first nine months of 2022. Sigma Interalbanian is also represented by a branch in Kosovo, where it held sixth place in the market with a market share of 9.1% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022.
Baltic states
VIG insurance companies are represented in all three Baltic states. Compensa Life has its headquarters in Estonia and is also represented by branches in Latvia and Lithuania. BTA Baltic operates in Latvia and has branches in Estonia and Lithuania. The company Compensa Non-Life also operates in Lithuania. It maintains branches in Latvia and Estonia.
Their market share of 26.4% made the VIG insurance companies the market leader in the Baltic states in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. They also hold first place in the non-life sector and second place for life insurance.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
VIG Insurance Group is represented by Wiener Osiguranje, which has its headquarters in Banja Luka in the Serbian Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and by Vienna Osiguranje, which is headquartered in Sarajevo. The market share was 8.8% based on data for the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022, which puts the VIG insurance companies in fourth place in the market.
Bulgaria
VIG is represented in the Bulgarian insurance market by the insurance companies Bulstrad Life and Bulstrad Non-Life. Together they had a market share of 14.0% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. That makes the VIG insurance companies the leading insurance group in Bulgaria. In the non-life sector they are in third place in the market; in the life sector they are in second place. The PAC Doverie pension fund also belongs to VIG Insurance Group.
Croatia
The VIG insurance company Wiener Osiguranje operates in Croatia. Its market share of 11.6% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022 put it in third place in the Croatian insurance market.
Moldova
The VIG insurance company Donaris operates in Moldova. It had a market share of 12.7% in the first nine months of 2022, putting it in fifth place in the market. It also holds fourth place in the non-life sector.
North Macedonia
The VIG insurance companies Makedonija Osiguruvanje, Winner Non-Life and Winner Life together held a market share of 18.3% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. That makes the VIG companies the leading insurance group in North Macedonia.
Romania
Three VIG insurance companies, the non-life insurer Omniasig, composite insurer Asirom and life insurer BCR Life, operate in the Romanian insurance market. Their market share of 23.4% makes the VIG insurance companies the market leader in Romania. In the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022, they also held first place in non-life insurance and second place in life insurance.
In November 2020, VIG Insurance Group signed a share purchase agreement with the Dutch company Aegon N.V. to acquire its companies in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Türkiye. In Hungary and Türkiye, closing was successfully completed in 2022. For the acquisition of the remaining Eastern European business of Aegon with companies in Poland and Romania, only the approval from Romania is pending for a closing.
Serbia
VIG operates in Serbia through Wiener Städtische Osiguranje. It held fourth place in the market with a market share of 11.3% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. It is in fourth place in the non-life sector and second place in the life sector.
Slovakia
Two VIG insurance companies, Kooperativa and Komunálna, are represented in the Slovakian insurance market. Their market share of 28.0% put them in first place in Slovakia in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. They hold second place for non-life insurance and first place for life insurance.
The Slovakian pension company 365.life, which was acquired by Kooperativa at the end of 2022, is assigned to the segment Group Functions.
Ukraine
The VIG non-life insurance companies Kniazha and USG and life insurance company Kniazha Life are operating in Ukraine. The VIG insurance companies held second place in the overall market with a market share of 11.5% in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022. They are in second place in the non-life sector.
Hungary
VIG operates in Hungary through UNION Biztosító and the Aegon insurance company acquired in 2022, which in future will be represented on the market under the brand Alfa Biztosító. According to data published by the Hungarian association MABISZ, VIG – including Aegon – holds first place in the market. Data from the Hungarian National Bank shows that the market share in the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2022 was 19.1%. In life and non-life insurance, VIG holds second place in the market.
Financial performance indicators in the extended CEE reportable segment
Premium development
The VIG insurance companies in the segment Extended CEE wrote EUR 3,593.2 million in premiums in 2022, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.5% (2021: EUR 2,886.7 million). One of the reasons for this growth is the first-time consolidation of the Aegon insurance company acquired in Hungary in 2022. The motor lines of business in Romania and Hungary and the other property and casualty insurance line of business in the Baltic states, Romania and Hungary performed well. Net earned premiums were EUR 2,742.7 million in 2022 (2021: EUR 2,200.7 million), an increase of 24.6% compared to the previous year.
Premiums by line of business
Result before taxes
A result before taxes of EUR 112.7 million was recorded in the segment Extended CEE in 2022 (2021: EUR 188.6 million). This is a decrease of 40.2% compared with the previous year. In the result before taxes, impairments of goodwill of EUR 26.2 million for the CGU groups Albania including Kosovo and North Macedonia were recognised. Impairments of other intangible assets totalling EUR 37.6 million were also included. These primarily include insurance portfolios and customer bases of the Hungarian Aegon company acquired in 2022 due to an additional insurance tax introduced after the transaction was closed. An increase in the combined ratio was also recorded in Hungary, Ukraine and Croatia.
Adjusted for impairments of goodwill and other intangible assets, the business operating result in the segment Extended CEE in 2022 amounted to EUR 176.5 million (2021: EUR 188.6 million).
Combined ratio
In 2022, an increase in the cost ratio in Hungary, primarily due to the introduction of the additional insurance tax, and the limited product portfolio due to the war in Ukraine led to a combined ratio of 95.3% in the segment Extended CEE (2021: 92.3%).