May 20 (SeeNews) - Austria's Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) said on Wednesday that its net profit from operations in Bulgaria grew by an annual 32.2% to 4.9 million euro ($5.4 million) in the first quarter of 2020, as its combined ratio improved by 3.7 percentage points to 91.4%.
VIG's gross written premiums in Bulgaria fell by an annual 6.5% to 62.2 million euro in the review period, but net premiums earned rose 6.5% to 40 million euro, the company said in an interim financial statement.
The decrease in GWP was mostly due to a 54.8% drop in health insurance premiums, to 5.4 million euro.
Motor third party liability insurance premiums rose 16.8% to 8.1 million euro, while casco premiums edged up 1.5% to 16.5 million euro.
Other property insurance premiums increased 17.9% to 20.1 million euro in the review period.
The group's expenses in Bulgaria added 4.8% to 38.3 million euro in the first three months of 2020.
The group is active on the Bulgarian insurance market through Bulstrad non-life insurer, Bulstrad Life and Nova Ins non-life. It also holds a stake in Doverie, the largest Bulgarian pension assurance company.
($ = 0.9138 euro)
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