Vienna Insurance Q1 pretax up 24 pct

VIENNA, May 20 (Reuters) - Vienna Insurance Group's (VIGR.VI) pre-tax profit in the first quarter of 2008 rose 24 percent to 125 million euros ($195 million), the company said on Tuesday.

The average estimate from six analysts in a Reuters poll was for pre-tax profit of 122 million euros.

The company said in a statement gross written premiums were 2.30 billion euros, up 15 percent and exactly as forecast on average by three analysts.

Vienna Insurance is acquiring the insurance business of Erste Bank (ERST.VI), in east Europe, for 1.4 billion euros. (Reporting by Paul Bolding)