-- In 2013, Grupo SURA (BVC: GRUPOSURA – PFGRUPSURA) obtained
COP 781,794 million (USD 405.7 million), in net profits for a growth
of 43.2%.
-- Its General Shareholders' Meeting approved a 15 % increase
in dividends for this coming 12-month period.
-- Grupo SURA's core investments attends more than 34 million
clients in a total of 9 countries in Latin America.
MEDELLIN, Colombia,
March 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- At the
end of Grupo SURA's (BVC: GRUPOSURA – PFGRUPSURA) General
Shareholders' Meeting held in Medellin, the Company confirmed the excellent
results obtained from its core strategy and announced that it shall
continue to focus on growth through innovation, building greater
synergies and expanding and developing its markets.
As the market was informed in recent days, one of the more
important achievements last year in terms of the Company's
financial results was having obtained COP
781,794 million (USD 405.7
million) in net profits, for a YoY increase of 43.2 %. This
was largely due to a 38.3% YoY increase in operating revenues
totaling COP 924,511 million
(USD 479.8 million). Other important
highlights included the following:
- COP 437,433 million (USD 227.0 million) in earnings reported via the
equity method, showing a growth of 35.9%, of which COP 213,295 million (USD
110.7 million) corresponded to Suramericana S.A. and
COP 279,910 million (USD 145.3 million) to Sura Asset Management
S.A..
- In non-operating expenses, interest payable account fell by
47.9 % , given the Company's lower level of indebtedness.
- Total liabilities therefore declined by 14.1% to COP 762,782 million (USD
395.9 million) at year-end 2013.
Based on this level of results, the Shareholders approved a
proposal submitted by the Company's Board of Directors regarding a
dividend increase of 15%, that is to say COP
390 per share over the upcoming 12-month period.
Consequently, Grupo SURA shall be paying out a total of
COP 255.498 million (USD 133 million) in shareholder dividends in the
form of 4 quarterly installments.
STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS
For its part, SURA Asset Management S.A., Grupo SURA's
subsidiary in the pension, savings and investment sector ended with
COP 219.2 billion (USD 113.2) billion in Assets Under Management
for a YoY growth of 13.5%. As for its consolidated financial
results, this Company posted operating revenues of COP 3.1 billion (USD 1.6
billion), which were 47.3% higher than for year-end 2012.
Sura Asset Management S.A. continues to lead the Latin America
Pension Fund market with a total of 16.7 million clients in 6
different countries, 9,822 employees and a market share of
23.4%.
Suramericana S.A., Grupo SURA's Insurance and Social Security
subsidiary, with a presence spanning 4 Latin American countries,
reported COP 6.0 billion
(USD 3.1 billion) in subsidiary
income along with net subsidiary profits of COP 353 thousand million (USD 183 million). Its Shareholders' Equity came
to COP 2.1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) at year-end 2013. This level of
performance, from both the financial and business standpoints
continues to show SURA's driving force within the Latin American
insurance industry.
On the other hand, in 2013, the amount of international funds
holding shares in Grupo SURA rose by 34% from 497 to 665. This
reflects not just the Company's robust financial position but also
its adherence to high international standards which are important
benchmarks for these firms to base their investment decisions.
Also, Grupo SURA was included for the third year running in the
Dow Jones Sustainability World Indices given its performance
both at home and abroad. This sustainability index plays an
important role on the global stock exchanges, given the growing
importance amongst the worldwide investor community to receive
feedback and assessments with regard to the long-term business
models and practices of potential investees.
Grupo SURA also announced the progress made so far in getting
ready for the changeover to the new IFRS (International Financial
Reporting Standards) accounting system, as required by the
Colombian Regulatory Agencies. Also it shall be working on
implementing the Sarbanes Oxley Act, which shall allow it to
deploy advanced Corporate Governance and Information Transparency
practices, thereby complementing the Company's efforts in this
respect.
About Grupo SURA
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. . We are also the only
Latin American corporation from the miscellaneous financial service
sector to be admitted to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI),
which tracks companies who have become global benchmarks thanks to
the best practices they have adopted from the economic,
environmental and social standpoints. GRUPO
SURA has two fields of investment: its core strategic
interests in the financial service, insurance, pension, savings and
investment sectors; and its portfolio interests in the processed
food, cement and energy sectors.