Finding a
balanced life,
together

Gross non-life premiums written outside Slovenia increased by 20.3%. This growth was driven chiefly by the inclusion of the Croatian non-life insurer ERGO Osiguranje into the Sava Insurance Group, but Serbian, Montenegrin, North Macedonian and Kosovar non-life insurers also achieved high growth in the range of 10%. Gross life premiums written outside Slovenia were up 9.1%.

Gross reinsurance premiums written rose by only 1% in 2019, which is due to restrictions on systematic growth and the rejection of less profitable contracts. In general, the reinsurance segment in 2019 experienced a larger volume of claims, primarily due to a greater number of catastrophic events, among them two typhoons in Japan, a hurricane in the Bahamas and some large fire losses.

The insurance segment saw an increased claims burden mainly in Croatia, where the loss ratio deteriorated due to increased claims in motor third-party liability and in motor casco business, as well as owing to the integration of the Croatian Ergo Osiguranje non-life insurer into the Group.

In the next mid-term period we will embark on extensive projects aimed at customer-centric digital transformation of the Group. This will make it easier for our customers to buy and manage insurance policies and file claims, but special attention will be paid also to our online presence and mobile applications, as well as to the adjustment of communications and products to customer preferences. Also underway is the Group’s IT transformation, which will facilitate the digital transformation and overhaul of its core IT systems, which in turn will allow us to develop a modern and flexible IT system that will give us a competitive advantage in the future.

In addition to effective organic growth the Sava Insurance Group will continue to grow also through acquisitions. Our growth will continue to focus on the Group’s expansion in the industries and markets where we are already present, but we will look for growth opportunities also in the insurance industry in other EU countries. Last August we signed a purchase agreement for Diagnostični Center Bled d.o.o. (Bled Diagnostic Centre), through which we entered the private healthcare market, and in December we signed a contract to acquire the second largest life insurer in Slovenia, NLB Vita d.d., through which we will significantly increase our market share in life insurance.

Sustainable development, i.e. corporate social responsibility, is a growing and an increasingly important aspect of decision-making in all business segments. Aware of the environmental changes and their impact on our business, we will prudently diversify our investment portfolio, focusing in part also on real estate, infrastructure and sustainable investments. This underpins our sustainability efforts in the communities and environment of which we are a part.I would like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders for their support and the trust they placed in us. We will continue to invest our efforts in improving quality at all levels of our business while ensuring a high degree of financial strength and profitability of the Group. We are aware that it is only with cooperation of all our stakeholders that we can realise our vision, through which we are building a customer-centric, modern, digital, community-minded and sustainability-oriented insurance group.