Middlesea Insurance said today that the group (including MSV as a subsidiary) made a group pre-tax profit of €3.1 million last year, compared to a profit of €6.4 million in the previous year.

"The operations of the standalone company registered improved technical results which were however negatively impacted by a lower investment income, and lower dividends from group companies, the latter amounting to €0.7m compared to €6.8m in 2010," the group said.

Profit before tax generated by MSI amounted to €1.8m compared to a profit of €8.9m in 2010.

MSV reported a decrease in turnover as a result of lower single premium business due to an effort to write more regular premium and protection business, and prevailing market conditions.

"Financial year 2011 continued to be a stabilisation year for the company and the group. With Mapfe acquiring control of the company the group is seeking to draw upon Mapfe's experience in the global insurance market in offering a more focused service aimed at enhancing the solid reputation that the company had with its customers, through new and innovative products coupled with a strong brand," Middlesea said.

"Focus was set on local operations in order to consolidate and improve upon  Middlesea's leadership position in the Maltese market, and, as reported last year, MSI ceased writing business in the geographical territory of Gibraltar as from January 1, 2011 and re-focused its operations exclusively on the local market. Excluding results in Gibraltar, local operations delivered a strong purely technical result of €3 million compared to €2.2 million during the previous year."

The directors are recommending the payment of a total gross dividend of €920,000.