MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Unipol Gruppo Finanziario SpA said its nine-month net profit after minority interests rose 16.9 pct to 332 mln eur, boosted by non-life insurance and banking, but short of a 343 mln eur consensus.
Premium income rose 2.2 pct to 6.445 bln eur, including a 5.4 pct rise in non-life premiums to 2.960 bln and a 0.3 pct fall in life premiums to 3.485 bln, the company said in a statement.
Non-life combined ratio -- costs and claims as a percentage of premiums -- fell to 95.5 pct, from 96.9 a year earlier, it said.
In the bank sector, net profit of the Unipol Banca unit rose 19 pct to 28.6 mln eur with total revenues up 15 pct to 207.9 mln, it said.
Unipol's net premiums of 6.354 bln eur, against 6.214 bln a year earlier, compared to a consensus expectation of 6.261 bln.
In a full-year forecast, Unipol said that despite the strong uncertainty on financial markets, it sees a higher net profit compared to 2006. nigel.tutt@thomson.com nt/jlc COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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