Commercial Union to consolidate the six arms of its Polish capital group

Insurance giant Commercial Union (CU) is planning to merge the six firms forming its capital group in Poland into one holding by the end of the year. "This will increase the efficiency of group management. However, it will require financial injections which may influence this year's financial results," said the president of CU in Poland, Jaroslaw Myjak, though he refused to go into details. The group's biggest company, CU Zycie Polska, is the country's second-largest life insurer controlling almost 19% of the market. The insurer recorded net profits of zl. 122 million after the first half-year - 85% more than over the same period last year. However, the company is troubled by the increasing number of people withdrawing from life policies, which is 68% higher than the gain in premiums. "An optimistic fact is that we have observed a slowdown in this trend in the second quarter," said Jaroslaw Myjak. The consolidated net profits of the CU group in Poland amounted to zl. 112 million after the first half of the year, which is 2% more than in the same period of 2001. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B7) M.M.