Baltic, Financial Services, Insurance

The amount of insurance premiums underwritten by Ergo in the Baltic states grew by more than EUR 28 million year-on-year to EUR 177 million in January-September 2017, while indemnity payments rose by EUR 5 million to EUR 105 million.

The company's representatives said that in the nine months of this year the Ergo Group showed faster growth than the Baltic insurance market on average - while the Baltic insurance market expanded by 14.5%, Ergo achieved an 18.4% growth in the first nine months of this year, which allowed Ergo to increase its market share in the Baltics to 14.4% from 14% a year ago.

In all three Baltic states, the fastest growth of premiums in the non-life insurance segment was achieved in vehicle insurance.

Meanwhile, indemnity payments were made mostly in motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance, motor own damage (MOD) insurance and property insurance. The largest compensation - EUR 2.4 million - was paid to a farm in Lithuania that had had to cull a large number of livestock following an outbreak of African swine fever. The largest compensation in Estonia - EUR 450,000 - was paid to a holder of MOD insurance policy, and in Latvia, more than EUR 120,000 were paid to an insurance policy holder after a road accident.

Gribergs said that in the nine months of 2017 Ergo wrote EUR 21.8 million worth of premiums in Latvia, which was nearly 20% more than in the same period last year. Indemnity payments in Latvia grew by EUR 1.1 million year-on-year to EUR 32.6 million.

In the first nine months of 2016, Ergo generated EUR 3.5 million in Baltic profit.

The Baltic insurance group is part of Ergo International AG, one of Europe's largest insurance companies with headquarters in Dusseldorf.