The Vienna Insurance Group's Czech businesses have further enhanced their position in the company's largest CEE market. The Group extended its considerable market share by 0.6 percentage points to 33.7 percent, significantly widening the gap to its closest competitors once again.

Vienna Insurance Group extends market leadership
Group companies Kooperativa, Česká podnikatelská pojišťovna (ČPP) und Pojišťovna České spořitelny (PČS) recorded a combined increase in premium income of some 3.3 percent to around CZK 51.5 (about EUR 1.9 billion)*, meaning that this key strategic market contributed roughly 20 percent of the Group's total premium income.

"The Vienna Insurance Group has posted above-average growth in the Czech Republic in spite of the challenging market conditions. We have again hit one of VIG's strategic targets for the country, successfully building on our leading position in this key CEE market."
Peter Hagen, CEO, Vienna Insurance Group

Demand for life insurance remains strong
The increase in market share came against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment and was driven by strong performance in the life insurance business, which grew by 4.1 percent. ČPP recorded a notable success in regular premiums, and the rise of 14.8 percent underlines the company's effectiveness in advising customers and concluding policies aimed at long-term asset growth. In the past six years, the Vienna Insurance Group has seen life insurance premium income jump by around 50 percent.

Key role of bancassurance - healthy growth in single-premium business
The highly effective partnership with Erste Group subsidiary Česká spořitelna is an excellent example of the success of banks as a sales channel for life insurance. PČS reported outstanding growth of 8.2 percent in single-premium policies, while regular premiums went up by a highly satisfactory 3.4 percent.

Improvement in motor insurance 
Premium income from property and casualty insurance rose by 2.6 percent, with growth of around 6 percent in motor third-party liability insurance. This strong performance was mainly attributable to ČPP, where premium volumes surged by 7.3 percent. Kooperativa enhanced its strong position still further, recording an impressive increase of 4.4 percent.

* Non-consolidated, unaudited results based on preliminary figures stated in the local currency.

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