Mapfre Internacional, the Spanish insurance group, registered a net result of €543.2 million in the first half of the year, up 8.6 per cent over the same period last year.

The company – Middlesea Insurance plc ’s majority shareholder – attributed the result to the “extraordinary” growth of results in international business and the excellent performance of businesses in Spain where, excluding capital gains and extraordinary expenses, net results grew by 16.8 per cent.

The net results of the group’s insurance business increased 11.3 per cent to €630.1 million. The excellent trend in the loss experience has mitigated the impact of the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand.

In Spain, the combined ratio recorded a decrease of 2.7 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year.

Consolidated revenues of €11,625.7 million exceeded by six per cent those for the first half of the previous year. Direct insurance and accepted reinsurance premia amounted to €9,724.6 million, a 6.7 per cent rise.

In Spain, total premia from direct insurance and accepted reinsurance amounted to €4,323.6 million, 0.7 per cent less than in the six first months of the previous year.

Premia at Mapfre Familiar amounted to €2,344.8 million, a figure equivalent to that recorded in 2010. The growth of motor insurance (+0.1 per cent, compared to the 1.7 per cent decline of the sector) and home insurance (+9.2 per cent) should be underscored.

Life assurance premia reached €1,592.5 million (down 1.1 per cent) due to the differences in the schedule of sales campaigns in the bancassurance channel with respect to the previous year. Life-protection insurance was up by 9.3 per cent.

The international business, which represents 58.2 per cent of the group’s total premia, has grown 12.5 per cent to reach €6,038.1 million.