Vienna Insurance Group, an Austria-based insurer, intends to purchase life and general insurance businesses in Poland, Hungary and Germany – reported Bloomberg.
Guenter Geyer, CEO of Vienna Insurance, said: “I am still convinced that an investment in Poland or Hungary and maybe even in Bulgaria will give more returns than a company in the UK or the Netherlands. The company has a war chest of E1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) for acquisitions and is focused on eastern Europe where premiums are growing at a faster rate. Last year, the Vienna-based company bought Erste Group Bank AG’s insurance unit to become the biggest insurer in eastern Europe.”
In Hungary, the insurer is represented by Union Biztosito and Erste Sparkassen Biztosito, while it has six companies operating in Poland. In Germany, Vienna owns the Wiesbaden-based InterRisk Versicherungen.
Additionally, Vienna Insurance has reported a 27% decline in second quarter profit on lower investment returns. It plans to cut 1,100 jobs by the end of 2010 in a bid to reduce costs by E100 million. This year, the insurer slashed 900 positions among its workforce of about 25,000, as quoted in Bloomberg.
