Among regional competitors the Hungarian insurance market has been through the biggest setback since 2010, insurer Aegon's regional director Andras Kepecs has said in an interview with website index.hu.

Vienna Insurance Group intends to expand into Hungary. The Eastern neighbor country is the favorite growth market, the Austrian insurance group said. VIG reaffirms to be highly interested in further acquisitions, CEO Peter Hagen explains.

Once again, the strong depreciation of the Hungarian Forint, has put a dramatic accent on the Hungarian insurance markets' negative dynamic, translating the 4.72% y-o-y nominal decrease registered in local currency by the end of 1H2012, into a double digit falling rate of 12.19% when denominating the market results in EUR. Thus, the overall underwritings of the Hungarian insurers totalized EUR 1.42 billion, EUR 197 million less than in 1H2011.

Hungarian insurance market revenues increased by 1.96% to HUF 238.98 billion (EUR 808.46 million) in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period of last year, according to Hungarian Financial Supervision Authority (PSZAF). On the other hand, in 1Q2012, insurers paid out claims amounted HUF 163.62 billion (EUR 553.51 million), 19.96% more than a year earlier.

Violeta CIUREL, CEO AXA Life Insurance Romania will also take over, starting July 1st, as President of AXA Insurance Hungary, further coordinating both Easterns subsidiaries of the French group. Jacques MAIRE, the current President of the Hungarian company will return to Paris, after a three years mandate. "I am pleased and honored by this appointment. Hungary is a challenging market, but I am very motivated and I also believe that opportunities and successful business always arise if you're affraid of discipline and systematic work. I trust my new colleagues in Hungary have these skills and our joint efforts will pay off", said Violeta CIUREL.

Vienna Insurance Group wants to expand in Hungary, its outgoing chief executive told a magazine, predicting his successor would keep generating record profits.

The Hungarian Government intends to introduce starting 2013 an unified tax on insurance companies, by merging and transforming taxes previously levied on insurance companies, as part of its Szell Kalman Plan 2.0, a package of new reform measures. The estimated financial outcome of this operation is of HUF 15 billion per year. Thus, profitability of Hungarian insurers will be further affected, probably even in a stronger manner than in the current context.

The market concentration based on premium income has been gradually decreasing on the Hungarian insurance market, but the five largest insurers - according to their profit generating capacity - continue to dominate the scene. While Allianz is the only one of these five that has released its 2011 earnings report so far, in view of previous data it seems that it takes quite a large market share to book a handsome profit. In this article we put the spotlight on the profitability of local insurers between 2003 and 2010. It turned out that Aegon is the same on the insurance market as OTP is in the banking sector. Although based on premium income Aegon was generally only the fourth-largest player on the Hungarian market, when it comes to profit it was almost unbeatable.

Insurer Allianz Hungaria had gross revenue from premiums of HUF 144.5 billion in 2011, down 12.4% from the previous year, the company told MTI on Monday.

Hungary's insurance market suffered a decline in HUF by 3.3% in 2011, according to Hungarian Financial Supervision Authority (PSZAF). In European currency, the decrease was, due the devaluation of HUF, 13.3% to EUR 2.62 billion, confirming the figures published last month by the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ).

K&H Biztosito, the insurance unit of Hungary's K&H Bank, had after - tax profit of HUF 1.9 billion in 2011, up from HUF 800 million a year earlier, data published by the parent company show.

The Hungarian insurance market is one of the latest in the CEE region still having a rough time as a result of the austerity measures undertaken by the government in its attempt to balance de country's deficit. Insurers' combined revenue from premiums edged down an inflation-adjusted 2.7% to HUF 821 billion in 2011, according to the Hungarian Insurers Association (MABISZ). In nominal terms, the market saw a 0.38% growth. Denominated in European currency, 2011 figures are showing an even more worrying picture, with a 10% drop in GWP, to EUR 2.64 billion, following the almost 12% y-o-y depreciation of the Hungarian forint exchange rate. All in all, the number of policies fell by 60,000 units, to 11 million, MABISZ said.

Economic uncertainty and further budget cuts have caused insurance-based investments and sector revenues to drop.

Battle for clients once again brings falling prices with 15-20% drop seen in insurance fees this year.
Despite the planned accident tax that will be incorporated in mandatory liability insurance fees, car owners can bag great discounts again in this year's third-party insurance campaign.

The Hungarian insurance market 3Q2011 aggregated results recently published by PSZAF (Hungarian Financial Supervision Authority) broadly confirm the figures released by MABISZ, the insurers association. Thus, GWP amounted HUF 618.6 billion (EUR 2.12 billion), down 2.7% in nominal terms, as compared with the same period of 2010. The over 5% y-o-y depreciation of the Hungarian currency in relation to Euro makes the change even worse when calculated in European currency, showing a 7.68% fall in the markets' volume. Still, in terms of profitability, PSZAF's statistics show an aggregated EUR 62 million profit after tax for the Hungarian insurers.

CIG Pannonia First Hungarian General Insurance Plc. (EMABIT)., the subsidiary of CIG Pannonia Life Insurance Plc., entered the market in October with a complete range of products and announced its first third-party insurance packages on 30 October Dr Otto Csurgo, CEO of the Company, presented the insurer's services and strategy at the media event in Gyor.

Total underwritings' volume of the Hungarian insurance market stood, by the end of September 2011, at HUF 623.4 billion (EUR 2.1 billion), 2.2% less than in 3Q 2010 - show data published by the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ).

CIG Pannonia Life Insurance Plc. notifies its Esteemed Shareholders and capital market players that the Board of Directors has appointed in a Decision a new Chief Operating Officer, in order to increase further the efficiency of its operations.

"The biggest problem facing the insurance sector is the lack of growth, and the inability of insurance companies to increase their revenues", MABISZ Chairman Peter KISBENEDEK said on Wednesday, at the Conference organized by the association, citing among the main reasons of this situation the about EUR 126 million crisis tax paid by insurers.

Hungarian insurers expect just 5-10% of life insurance policies to be liquidated by borrowers who want to avail of an early foreign currency-denominated mortgage repayment scheme, Hungarian Insurers Association (MABISZ) head Peter Kisbenedek said in Wednesday's issue of business daily Napi Gazdas?g.