Life insurer Resolution has more than tripled its first-half operating profits, with the company's performance boosted by the contribution made by insurance operations it purchased from high street lender Abbey last year.
In a statement today the insurance group revealed that its operating profit on a European embedded value (EEV) basis climbed to £395 million in the six months to June 30th, up from £118 million for the corresponding period of 2006.
Resolution said that its profits had also been boosted by £78 million as a result of changes to the UK corporation tax regime.
The company said that its new business profits climbed by 20 per cent to £30 million during the first six months of the year, with Resolution also reporting a strong performance by its asset management business.
Commenting on the performance Resolution chief executive Mike Biggs said: "These are good results benefiting from the delivery of synergies from past transactions and our expertise in managing in-force life assurance portfolios."
He added that the group's planned merger with Friends Provident was expected to deliver "significant benefits" for Resolution's customers and shareholders, stressing that the company was making "good progress" in its plans over the tie-up.
Resolution has stressed that its immediate focus is on creating the resulting company, Friends Financial, with the merger deal expected to be completed later this year.
However analysts say that the £8.6 billion deal, announced in July, could be under threat after Resolution's biggest shareholder urged the company to abandon its merger plans. It has been speculated that Pearl Assurance, which owns a 16.5 per cent stake in Resolution, may launch its own cash bid for the firm.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz