The gross premium income of Bulgaria's 31 insurance companies is expected to exceed BGN 1.1 bln in 2005, posting a 32.4% year-on-year growth, Stefan Stoilkov from the insurance supervision directorate announced. Stoilkov's forecast puts the Q4 premium revenue total to around BGN 360 mln on the back of the BGN 741 mln in premiums reported by the industry in late September. The share of life insurance in the sector's overall premiums is seen by the supervision directorate at 14% in 2005, up 1.5% y/y. The insurance industry manages BGN 1.122 bln in assets with life insurance accounting for 29.3%. By the end of 2006, the sector will undergo a wave of mergers and acquisitions set off by the higher capital thresholds introduced by the new insurance code, Stoilkov predicted.