MEDELLIN, Colombia,
April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Yesterday GRUPO SURA reported its
financial results for Q1 2012. Profits came to COP 178,233 million (USD
99.5 million), showing a YoY growth of 135%, which went over
and above the forecast by the Company, thanks mainly to the results
posted by SURA Asset Management, the Group's sub-holding,
representing the assets recently acquired from ING, as well as
SURAMERICANA, its insurance and social security sub-holding, that
also got off to an excellent start to the year.
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Clearly GRUPO SURA is beginning
to reap value from the expansion begun last year. On the one hand,
SURA Asset Management posted USD 291
million in revenues for this past quarter, going far beyond
the initial projections drawn up prior to the ING acquisition. Its
EBITDA came to USD 110.3 million with
assets managed by the companies reporting to SURA Asset Management
in Latin America reaching
USD 76.2 billion. Furthermore, its
total affiliate base rose to 10.9 million.
In addition to having achieved a successful and seamless
integration, the Companies that were acquired from ING produced an
excellent level of performance, mainly due to factors such as
higher pension commissions thanks to a 19% rise in the salary/wage
base of our affiliates throughout the region. This was also helped
on by the performance of Seguros de Vida Chile's investment
portfolio and the technical market obtained by our life annuity
business in Mexico. The fact that
the Latin American markets are recovering well is also having a
positive effect on the returns obtained from our statutory pension
reserves.
"We are very pleased to see that our strategic investments
got off to an excellent start to the year. SURAMERICANA, amply
known for its leadership and financial soundness, had a very good
first quarter and our subsidiary SURA Asset Management, who is
reporting its financial results for the first time ever, has more
than confirmed the excellent prospects we identified when we first
set out to acquire ING's Latin American business" stated David
Bojanini, Chief Executive Officer of GRUPO
SURA.
As for our insurance and social security sub-holding
SURAMERICANA S.A., the figures reported today show an excellent
level of performance for this past quarter. Revenues here came to
COP 55,927 million (USD 31.2 million), showing a YoY increase of
55.6% for a 71.0% increase in profits amounting to COP 52,058 million (USD
29.1 million). Furthermore, assets increased by 16.2% for a
total of COP 1.71 billion
(USD 952.9 million), mainly due to
investment gains. YTD earnings increased Shareholders Equity by
16.4%, which came to COP 1.52 billion
(USD 853.7 million), at the end of Q1
2012.
Another important highlight this year is that GRUPO SURA is now reducing its debt and
dismantling the temporary loans that formed part of the financing
for the ING acquisition. At March 31
2012, our financial obligations dropped by COP 57,088 million (USD
31.9 million) and subsidiary loans came to COP 729,837 million (USD
320.8 million). The figures we are reporting today do not
include the funds received in April from Bancolombia, in its
capacity as co-investor in SURA Asset Management. The Company
therefore posted a more adequate debt ratio of 11.47% for this past
first quarter and plans to end this year with similar levels to
those held prior to the acquisition carried out last year.
"Once again we are highly gratified with the sound
performance of our portfolio, and the results we are happy to
report today are the product of the knowledge and expertise of the
excellent teams we have in each of our companies" concluded
David Bojanini.
ABOUT GRUPO DE INVERSIONES SURAMERICANA
Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (BVC: Common:
GRUPOSURA, Preferred: PFGRUPSURA, OTC: Common: GIVSY, Preferred
GIVPY, Latibex: Common: XGSUR) –GRUPO SURA- is a
Latin American company listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange and
registered with the ADR- Level 1 program in the United States. It is also listed with the
Latibex Market for Latin American Stocks in Euros hosted by the
Madrid Stock Exchange. We are also the one of the three major Latin
American financial institutions to be admitted to the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index (DJSI), which monitors companies who have
become global benchmarks thanks to the good practices they have
adopted from the economic, environmental and social standpoints.
GRUPO SURA has two fields of
investment, the first being its strategic investments in the
financial services, insurance, social security as well as
complementary service sectors, and the second corresponds to its
portfolio investments in the food, cement and energy
sectors.
GRUPO SURA now enjoys No. 1
position in the Latin American Pension Fund sector while ranking as
one of the top players in the region's insurance, savings and
investment sectors.
CONTACT:
Luis Eduardo Martinez
Investor Relations Director
GRUPO SURA
(574) 4355628
lemartinez@gruposura.com.co
Monica Guarin Montoya
Communications Manager
GRUPO SURA
(574) 4355935
mguarin@gruposura.com.co
SOURCE Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana S.A.