PZU to look at bank holdings as part of new strategy, CEO says

By Rafal Wojciech Nowak

GDANSK (Reuters) -Poland’s top insurer PZU will focus on its bank holdings when it reassesses the group structure as part of its 2025-2027 strategy, its CEO said on Thursday.

In early September, Poland’s state assets minister Jakub Jaworowski said PZU needed a strategy to address its stakes in two competing banks, Pekao and Alior.

While global insurers are spinning off banking operations to focus on their core business, PZU has retained significant shares in both banks, which Jaworowski said was seen as unusual and potentially detrimental to its valuation.

“The banking segment has certainly been, and will continue to be, the subject of our intensive work, particularly in terms of the group structure,” CEO Artur Olech said on a conference call after the publication of PZU’s third-quarter results.

PZU will provide further information on these plans when it unveils the new strategy on Dec. 2, he added.

As Of Sept. 30, PZU held a 20% stake in Pekao and a 32% stake in Alior.

Earlier on Thursday, PZU reported a nearly 18% drop in its third-quarter net profit to 1.22 billion zlotys ($296.9 million), hit by a high number of claims for flood-related damages.

That still beat analysts’ consensus of 1.09 billion zlotys provided by PZU.

The decline was mainly attributed to costs associated with the most severe floods Poland had seen in over twenty years, which in September prompted a significant mobilization of funds for recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Between Sept. 12 and Nov. 20, PZU processed more than 48,000 flood damage claims from customers, issuing decisions in more than 46,000 of them and paying out almost 400 million zlotys.

($1 = 4.1097 zlotys)

(Reporting by Rafal W. Nowak; editing by Milla Nissi)