Friends Provident report 9 percent fall in H1 profits |
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Published
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Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:55
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LONDON - Friends Provident Plc had a 9 percent fall in first-half underlying profit with the pre-tax profits totaled at 247 million pounds compared to 272 million pounds last year.
Even before the figures were announced, market analysts had been predicting that the company would post a loss in profits with the forecasts ranging from a low of 236 million pounds to a high of 290 million pounds.
However, Britain's smallest blue chip insurer has proved the analysts wrong in the sales department posting a 39 percent increase to 3.03 billion pounds as compared to 2.62 billion pounds predicted by the analysts. The company said that the main reason for the fall in profits was due to the performance of investment markets during the first half, the impact of economic assumption changes and non-recurring and other items.
The company also showed profits in the UK market gaining 53 million pounds, an increase of 51 percent. Commenting on the figures in UK, Chief Executive Keith Satchell said, "Friends Provident is now a major player in the UK market and well positioned for continued strong organic growth with considerable opportunities available".
Despite the fall in profits, Satchell concluded that he was sure that the company would overcome the bump and make good progress. “Despite a tough start to the year F&C continues to make good progress in implementing its programme of performance improvement and upgrading of resources”, he said.
Friends Provident shares were trading at 181 pence valuing the company at 3.8 billion pounds. The company also raised its interim dividend by 2 percent to 2.65 pence per share.
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