Vienna  - The Vienna Insurance Group reported a profit increase of 29.3 per cent for the first half of 2008 on Thursday, boosted by strong growth in Central and Eastern European countries, where the group is market leader.

Net profits after minorities rose to 207.74 million euros (306.38 million dollars), compared with 160.63 million euros in the first six months of last year.

Second-quarter net profits were up 37.4 per cent, to 116.33 million euros, the company said.

In the first half of this year, revenue in terms of premiums written rose 20.7 per cent to 4.22 billion euros.

The CEE region contributed 1.98 billion euros in premiums to revenues in the same period, an increase of 40.7 percent.

Despite damages from the storms Paula and Emma in Europe early this year, the Group's combined ratio after reinsurance was stable at 95.9 per cent, compared with 96 per cent last year.

"Despite the weakness of the capital markets we are clearly meeting our intended profit target for 2008," Vienna Insurance Group CEO Guenter Geyer said.

The insurer is predicting profit before tax to rise to 540 million euros this year, from 437 million euros in 2007. (dpa)