Pretax profit up 55% at Irish Life International

THE INTERNATIONAL life assurance arm of Irish Life Permanent, which has been sold to SEB Life, reported a profit before tax of €2.9 million in 2010, up 55 per cent from €1.3 million in 2009.

But sales at the firm suffered due to Ireland’s worsening reputation in international markets.

The sale of Irish Life International to SEB Life closed last Friday. The Swedish financial group acquired the life assurer for €26 million.

Last February, ILP announced it would sell its holding in Irish Life International as part of its strategy to focus on the Irish market. The operation, which was established in 1994, will be rebranded over the next six months to SEB Life International.

In 2010, the company wrote gross premiums of € 370 million, up 47 per cent on 2009, although the sales margin declined slightly from 61 per cent in 2009 to 58 per cent.

According to the company, this was a “strong performance in the light of continued investor nervousness about economic conditions in the European markets”.

However, while sales at Irish Life International were strong in the first half of the year due to a tax amnesty in Italy, for the second half of 2010 they were “lower than expected”.

According to the company, this was due to the negative coverage Ireland received in the international press as a result of the EU-IMF intervention.

At the end of 2010, Irish Life International had €2.1 billion in assets, including €15.5 million in cash. This was up by 19 per cent from €1.7 billion at the end of 2009.

It reported an investment return of €126.6 million, up from €79.6 million in 2009. Total remuneration was €5.4 million in 2010, up from €4.3 million in 2009.

Irish Life International employs 78 people and is active in nine countries in Europe.