Restructuring Ceska pojistovna

(1996 – 2008)

At the time of PPF Group's first partial acquisition of Ceska pojistovna, the company had a dominant position in the insurance services market in the Czech Republic. However, despite this monopoly, the management of Ceska pojistovna was not capitalising effectively on this position, either commercially or financially.

Profile - today

• Ceska pojistovna is a composite insurance company that provides individual life, non-life and pensions products for retail customers, as well as providing insurance solutions for corporate clients in CEE.
• In January 2009, Standard & Poor’s awarded Ceska pojistovna a rating of A+ with a stable outlook – the highest rating possible for a company in the Czech Republic.

Successful transformation

• PPF Group acquired a significant interest in Ceska pojistovna in 1996 and started the transformation of its business model. At that time, Ceska pojistovna was making substantial losses despite its monopoly the market and continued to suffer from an inflexible and unfriendly approach to customer service inherited from the communist era. The focus of the turnaround in Ceska pojistovna’s business model during this time was the adoption of European business practices and standards, combined with a strong emphasis on customer marketing and segmentation.
• Home Credit Group – a business previously established in 1997 by PPF Group to provide consumer finance services across the CEE region – was separated from Ceska pojistovna in August 2006 in order to create two separate and distinct business lines in insurance and in consumer finance.
• As well as being the market leader for insurance in the Czech Republic, Ceska pojistovna has established highly successful new businesses in Slovakia and Russia.
• In 2007, PPF and Generali agreed to form a joint venture sharing both companies' insurance assets and experience in the CEE region, aiming to create an insurance powerhouse in the region.
• Ladislav Bartonicek, the long-term CEO of Ceska pojistovna (1996 to 2006), was invited to become a shareholder of PPF Group in 2007. He currently serves as the CEO of Generali PPF Holding and owns a 0.50% stake in PPF Group.

Ownership structure