MEDELLIN, Colombia,
July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Yesterday, Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana - GRUPO SURA released
its results for the second quarter this year, showing profits of
COP 329,785 million (USD 184.8 million) for a growth of 114.0%
compared to the same period last year. This positive balance
reaffirms the strong performance of its investments and the
Company's ongoing consolidation. The results posted by SURAMERICANA
S.A., the Group's insurance and social security sub-holding and
SURA Asset Management, its savings, pension and investment
sub-holding were particularly noteworthy. At the end of the first
half of this year both Companies continued to perform over and
above initial expectations.
Financial revenues included dividends and interest from the
Group's investments that reached COP 146,552
million (USD 80.7 million).
Subsidiary revenues, posted via the equity method came to
COP 151,245 million (USD 84.7 million). SURAMERICANA S.A.
provided COP 115,753 million
(USD 65 million), with SURA Asset
Management netting another COP 51,437
million (USD 27.1 million)
from the consolidated profits obtained from its respective
businesses totaling COP 200,944
million (USD 112.6 million)
before amortizations, adjustments for exchange differences and
interest.
"We are very pleased that our investments continue to provide
the same level of positive results as they did earlier on this
year. This only goes to show that the fundamentals of our principal
strategic investments continue strong, and we are now seeing that
not only are they companies in full growth mode, but they are also
highly dynamic organizations that are successfully positioning
themselves on a regional level" said David Bojanini, CEO of
Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana - GRUPO SURA.
In addition to the above, other important highlights for this
first half of the year included: GRUPO SURA's ordinary and
preferred shares being included in the MSCI and FTSE Indices, these
being important benchmarks for many international funds; the
ratification of both investment grades given by Fitch Ratings and
Standard & Poor's ratings agencies, last year; and the GRUPO
SURA preferred share being registered with the ADR Level 1 program
in the US.
All this has boosted trades of both our ordinary and preferred
shares, which during this last second quarter averaged out at
COP 14,979 million (USD 8.4 million) per day, with our market cap now
running at COP 17.9 billion
(USD 10.0 billion). Here it is
important to mention that at the end of June, our shareholder base
included 253 funds holding ordinary shares and another 142 holding
preferred shares for a total of 395 funds holding an 11.7% stake in
the Company.
It is also to be noted that GRUPO SURA continues to reduce its
debt and dismantle the temporary loans acquired to finance the
purchase of ING's Latin American assets. Consequently, the Company
posted a more adequate debt ratio of 8.28% for this past second
quarter, which is a positive step forward in returning to the same
debt levels held prior to the acquisition carried out last
year.
These excellent results for this past second quarter of 2012
confirm yet again the Company's robust investment portfolio and
provide a significant endorsement for the leading position it
enjoys on both the domestic as well as Latin American markets.
ABOUT GRUPO SURA
Stock exchange and tickers:
BVC: GRUPOSURA, PFGRUPSURA
ADR 1: GIVSY, GIVPY
Latibex: XGSUR
Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana –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 one of the three companies from
the Latin American financial service sector 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.
Media contact Information:
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 SURA