SulAmerica: Net Income Increases 85.4% to R$121.1 Million in 3Q08

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sul America S.A. (Bovespa: SULA11) announced today its results for the third quarter of 2008. Net income reached R$121.1 million, up 85.4% over 3Q07 and 122.7% above 2Q08. Net income for the nine months moved up by 34.9% year-on-year to R$293.8 million, recurring, while annualized ROAE was 18.5%.

Total insurance premiums increased 19% to R$2 billion in the quarter. Health insurance premiums (52.8% of total insurance premiums) increased 11.1% (recurring), with group health increasing by 18.2% to 704.4 million.

Auto insurance premiums, 29.7% of the Company's total insurance premiums, moved up by 24.3% in 3Q08 and the insured fleet topped 1.9 million vehicles. Life insurance premiums have seen an increase of 71.3% over 3Q07, led by a hefty growth of 341.6% in VGBL plans.

Total loss ratio reached 72.3% up 180 bps over 3Q07 and down 20 bps compared to 2Q08. Health insurance ended the quarter with 77.8%, 60 bps better than 2Q08, while auto insurance reached was 65.3% in 3Q08. Combined ratio for 3Q08 was 99.2%.

Return on the investment portfolio reached R$134.3 million, 12.5% up from 3Q07. For the nine months, income from the investment portfolio was R$458,6 million, corresponding to an average yield of 99.6% of the CDI.

Earnings conference call

This Tuesday (November 11), the Corporate Vice President and Investor Relations, Arthur Farme d'Amoed Neto, and the CFO, Sergio Borriello, will hold a conference call with investors and analysts to review the results of the period.

    In Portuguese:
    Telephone: +55 (11) 2101-4848 - code: SulAmerica
    Time: 10h (BR) | 07h AM US EST

    In English:
    Telephone: +1 (412) 858-4600 - code: SulAmerica
    Time: 12h (BR) | 09h AM US EST

The conference will be transmitted in real time through the site www.sulamerica.com.br/ir.