Unita sale drives Omniasig’s profit up to €46 mln

Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group, the second-largest insurer, posted profit worth some €46 million, following the finalizing of the sale of 55 percent of its Unita shares to Austrian Uniqa. Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) was full owner of Unita, but a package was controlled indirectly through Omniasig in a context in which the insurance market will post a negative result of €100 million. The local insurance market has registered regular losses due to the significant share of the auto portfolio, a segment on which damages paid by companies have risen exponentially every year.
According to VIG representatives, the value of the Unita sale was some €130–250 million. The 55 percent share package was transferred to Omniasig two years ago. On January 1, 2007, Omniasig held a subscribed share in the affiliated company worth RON 8 million. At the end of that same year, the value had risen to RON 155 million, with the takeover of the package from Unita. This means that, according to Omniasig’s accounting, the value of Unita was RON 147 mln (€40 mln). If the value of the Unita sale was €130 million, then the part owed to Omniasig is worth €71.5 mln. In case the transaction was carried out at the highest price, of €250 mln, then Omniasig made €137.5 mln. However, if the accounting value is deducted from both amounts, then Omniasig obtained a profit from the Unita sale somewhere around €31–100 million, depending on the price paid by Uniqa.