1.1 Letter from the President of the Management Board

[GRI 2-22]

Dear Stakeholders,

The last year was a time of transformation for the ERGO Hestia Group. Dynamically changing business and economic environment, technological progress, climate threat and the situation in Ukraine have affected the entire market. It is natural that these phenomena have also affected our operating activity, placing before us the challenges that we had not encountered before.

Despite the immense challenges related to the global macroeconomic and political situation, sustainable development, which we have consistently implemented in all areas of our operations, was one of the Company’s key strategic objectives in 2022. Against a backdrop of events related to war, rising inflation, interest rate changes and political and economic turmoil, the ERGO Hestia Group remained stable.

As of 31 December 2022, Piotr Maria Śliwicki stepped down as the President of the Management Board of the ERGO Hestia Group, having built up the organization continuously, since the very beginning, for 31 years. As the new Management Board President, I am very impressed with the Company’s achievements, in business and sustainability terms, in the spirit of Agenda 2030.

We had to prepare carefully for the change in leadership. We are an organization that is responsible for its surroundings – for its employees, customers, agents, brokers and suppliers. Therefore, we have been carrying out all the planned modifications in dialogue with those stakeholders. The comfort of our activities was guaranteed by the Company’s Business Strategy titled “The Power of Information and the Power of Community” adopted for the years 2021-2023 in which synergies create market advantage. Based on the strategy, we link the analytical potential of information resources and the competences of employees with their motivation and commitment. This combination also gives ERGO Hestia the balance and justifies boldness in making unorthodox decisions.

In a volatile and uncertain environment, ERGO Hestia managed to maintain a significant position in the Polish property insurance market and was recognized for the 15th time by the Polish Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers as the best corporate insurer in the property insurance category.

Gross premiums written by the ERGO Hestia Group rose from PLN 7.8 billion in 2021 to PLN 8.2 billion. This is evidence of business stability and well-assessed risks. The non-life company recorded gross written premium of PLN 7.7 billion, or 3.5% more than in 2021. The life company, on the other hand, grew by 12%, closing the year with gross written premium of PLN 497.5 million. The Group also achieved a solid net profit of PLN 263 million in the non-life company and PLN 33.6 million in the life company, keeping up the high profitability and technical result. Last year, we were ranked first in the Insurance Guarantee Fund’s Reliability Ranking. These accomplishments are certainly something to be proud of, but they also motivate us to continually improve and meet the challenges of a changing marketplace, in harmony with the environment and the communities of which we are a part, both as a company and as ordinary citizens of the world.

The activities described in this report are a bold step towards the transformation of our company in the area of ESG. Last year, after many months of work, we introduced the Sustainable Development Strategy for the years 2022-2025, with the concept created based on the intention guiding all our undertakings, which is TROSKA (CARE). The first letter of this word is also the first letter of the word “transformation”, which is taking place at many levels in the areas of investments, insurance portfolio, and our own activities. We have set ambitious goals for ourselves in our pursuit of carbon neutrality; we are undergoing international certifications and audits, improving processes and minimizing our environmental footprint. The Hestians, our employees at all levels, are ambassadors for these important undertakings, regardless of the type of work they do.

Please read the TROSKA Report, which also features art in addition to other broadly described activities of the ERGO Hestia Group. The Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation, established in 2014, completed the competition for young artists that had been held for two decades. On this occasion, an exhibition entitled “Bujność. Atlas nieskończonych możliwości” [Exuberance. Atlas of Infinite Possibilities] was held in the National Art Gallery in Sopot. The anniversary of the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation inspired us to browse through its collection and use the art to illustrate this report. These are examples of young art that also emphasize transformation: artistic, economic, in terms of ideas.

I hope that all readers will find this report to their satisfaction.