Steady development with stable results for BTA in the Baltic States

In the first six months of this year, the volume of gross insurance premiums written by BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter– BTA) in the Baltic States has reached 112.3 million euros, a 3.2% year-over-year increase, while the total earnings before taxes of BTA in the Baltic States in the first half of 2019 were 5.9 million euros.

In the first six months of 2019, the volume of gross insurance premiums written by BTA in the Baltic States has increased by 3.2%, reaching 112.3million euros. BTA has written gross insurance premiums for 42.4 million euro sins the first six months of this year in Latvia, and for 56.8 million euros in Lithuania. The year-over-year increase rate in both countries is similar, respectively 3.4% and 3.7%.The increase rate in Estonia remained on the level of the previous year, with gross written insurance premiums for 13.1 million euros.

Of the volume of gross written insurance premiums overall for the Baltic States, the major partis constituted by the compulsory third party liability insurance of motor vehicle owners (MTPL) with 38.5 million euros (-4%), followed by CASCO insurance with 26.9 million euros (+6.7%) and health insurance with 16.4 million euros (+7.5%).

In the first six months of this year in Latvia, the volume of gross written insurance premiums has been largest in health insurance – 13.9 million euros (+0.5%), CASCO insurance – 8.7 million euros (+8.5%) and MTPL insurance – 7.1 million euros (-11%).

In Lithuania the largest volume of gross written insurance premiums has been in MTPL insurance with 26.9 million euros (-3.2%), CASCO insurance with 13.7 million euros (+9.8%) and property insurance with 3.8 million euros (+7.7%).

In Estonia, the top of BTA’s gross written insurance premiums was in CASCO insurance – 4.5 million euros (-4.7%), MTPL – 4.4 million euros (+3.9%) and property insurance – 1.3 million euros (+0.6%).

Compared with the results for the first six months of 2018, the profit before taxes of BTA in the Baltic States has increased by 41% reaching 5.9 million euros. The pre-tax profit of BTA Latvia has remained almost the same – 1.8 million euros. The highest increase in profits in the first six months had BTA Lithuania with an increase of 24.7%, reaching 4.6 million euros. Losses of BTA Estonia were more than halved in the first six months of this year, compared to that period a year ago, reaching a negative result of 500 thousand euros. BTA Estonia has made some large claim payments in the first six months of this year, with explains the losses of BTA Estonian branch. At the very start of the year a fire broke out in a customer’s greenhouse complex Nurmiko, caused by a stray New Year’s Eve firecracker launched by a reckless neighbour. The total insurance indemnity reached 2.9 million euros. Also, a 2.8 million euros worth claim was made for damages to a building under construction, caused by a fire and it sextinguishing works.

In the Baltic States, BTA already has paid 72.5 million euros in insurance indemnities this year, which is 28.1% more than in the first six months of 2018. The majority of indemnity payments have been regarding MTPL insurance cases – 23.6 million euros (+6.8%), CASCO – 15.5 million euros (+5.1%), as well as health insurance – 9.9 million euros (+19%). In the first six months of this year, BTA Latvia has made indemnity payments for a total of 30.2 million euros (+11.2%), in Lithuania – 28.3 million euros (+24.8%), and in Estonia – 14 million euros (+106.1%). Invariably firm at the top, the most popular means for placing insurance claims for BTA customers is the BTA Customer Portal – 67% on average. 22% of claims are made by e-mail, 11% - over the phone and 0.2% via BTA’s website.

"The steep upward curve observed on the Baltic insurance market last year has a bruptly dropped this year. Despite of that, BTA has maintained a steady pace of development across all the Baltic States in the first six months of this year and had increase in profits, which is attributable to the growth of our performance involuntary insurance types. BTA continues investing funds and human resources in development of its staff, creating new internal and external training programmes. Also, what makes a difference is our focuson innovation and its implementation in our operation, changes affecting the daily job of our staff, improving their efficiency, as well as taking care of our customers by studying their habits to come up with the most appropriate digital solutions,” says BTA Management Board Chairman Wolfgang Stockmeyer.

About BTA

BTA Baltic Insurance Company is one of the leading insurance companies in the Baltics, offering the broadest range of non-life insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. BTA employs more than 1,000 employees in the Baltics. The largest shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG with close to 200 years of experience in the insurance business. With about 50 companies in 25 countries and more than 25,000 employees, Vienna Insurance Group is the clear market leader in its CEE markets. Vienna Insurance Group is the best-rated company of ATX, the leading index of Vienna Stock Exchange with a rating of A+ with stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s; its share is also listed on the Prague Stock Exchange.