Gross written premiums were down 4% to EUR 900.9m and net premiums earned dropped 5% to EUR 837.6m. At the same time gross claims settled inched up 2% to EUR 627.5m, according to unaudited results released on Friday.

The group's combined ratio, an insurance industry benchmark, stood at 91%, an improvement of 3.7 percentage points over 2012.

Return on equity was at 12%, up from 9.3% in the year before.

The core company, meanwhile, posted a net profit that dropped 4% year-on-year to EUR 48.3m, as gross premiums slipped 4% to EUR 605.8m.

The core company's combined ratio was even better than the group's, as it improved by nearly four percentage points to 85.3%.

Despite the stagnant headline figures, the company noted that key benchmarks exceeded the plan for 2013 and reflected a refocus on the core activity.

The bottom line has also been affected by write-downs on financial investments, which almost doubled year-on-year to EUR 28.1m.