Middlesea Group reported a gross profit of €8.21 million for the first six months of 2014, compared to €6.4 million in the same period last year.
Improved results were generated mainly from the group’s life operation MSV Life plc. General business returned a satisfactory result in an increasingly competitive market.
The group’s gross premium written increased by 16.9 per cent in the first half of 2014. Its turnover registered important growth compared to the slow growing Maltese market, with a rise of 12.9 per cent.
Return from investments allocated to the non-technical account for the six months amounted to a gain of €2.98 million compared to €2.68 million in 2013.
In the year’s first six months the major developed economies showed signs of moderate progress towards recovery underpinning positive stock market performance. This had a positive influence on the investment portfolio returns, particularly of MSV Life plc, registering returns higher than previous year and forecasts. With local financial sector equities experiencing a downturn, the holding company portfolio registered losses during the period.
The group continued to enjoy a healthy solvency position as a result of these positive results, standing at 474 per cent of the minimum solvency requirement (December 31, 2013: 515 per cent) following the payment of the dividend for financial year 2013.
Gross technical reserves increased by 5.8 per cent to €1.35 billion over the December 2013 reserves of €1.27 billion.
In line with company policy, the board of directors do not propose to pay an interim dividend.