Pozavarovalnica Sava's supervisory board said after a session on Wednesday that the group's operations in the first three quarters were successful.

The group collected EUR 215.8m in gross premiums in the period, which was 6.7% more than in the first nine months of 2011.

Gross premiums collected by Pozavarovalnica Sava were up by 12.1% to EUR 124.4m, shows a report published on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

The biggest increase in premiums in absolute terms was recorded by the two biggest companies in the group: reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava and insurer Zavarovalnica Tilia.

Pozavarovalnica Sava said that this year's increase in reinsurance premiums was exceptional, considering the global financial crisis and the company's gradual decrease in operations in Slovenia. The biggest growth in reinsurance premiums was generated by the company on Asian markets (34.4%).

The group's total payouts amounted to EUR 95.7m between January and September, which was 1.8% more than in the same period of last year, despite a drop in payouts in nearly all companies in the group.

Pozavarovalnica Sava was the only exception. Its payouts were up 5.2% year-on-year, mostly due to last year's floods in Thailand. It paid out EUR 53.6m in damages.

The group's operating costs stood at EUR 62.1m, which was 1.3% less than in the first three quarters of 2011.