Fall of the big, growth of the small - insurance company "Basler" registered 1,200% growth in first half of 2009

- The six-month results of the insurance industry in Serbia in 2009 are even worse than they seem. When 28.5 billion RSD worth of premiums registered in 2009 are compared to last year's 28.7 billion RSD, it seems that we have stagnation in that sector - the August issue of monthly magazine "Insurance and Finance World" announced.

When compared to the first half of year 2008, real drop in premiums, expressed in euros, amounted to 14.4%, that is, insurance companies registered 51m EUR less premiums (303m EUR against 354m EUR in 2008). Negative growth is a consequence of the crisis, but it is also partially caused by regrouping of large companies that turned more to themselves than to clients because of internal reorganizations.

Major losers were DDOR Novi Sad with 26m EUR smaller premiums than in 2008 and Dunav Osiguranje with the drop in premiums by 24m EUR. In addition to money, DDOR also lost 4% of market share, while Dunav lost 2.6%. The crisis hit the two largest players, the rest stayed on their feet, while the smallest and the most flexible ones used the opportunity and registered strong growth.

Of top four insurance companies in Serbia, "Delta Generali", the company that ranks third in market share, achieved the best results. The company insignificantly reduced the portfolio, measured in real values (96.4%) and increased its market share by 2%.

Small companies, some of them with only 10 employees or less, used the crisis as an opportunity for development. Expressed in percents, "Basler" registered the largest growth - by 1,200%. The insurance premium in that company amounted to 0.02m EUR in the period January-June 2008, while in the same period in 2009 it reached 0.24m EUR. At the end of June 2008, "Basler" had the market share of 0.01%, while that percentage grew to 0.08% in the same period in 2009. "Merkur" registered 246.5% growth, while CA Life grew by 180%.