Colombia's largest holding company, Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA, Thursday said it booked a net profit of 211 billion Colombian pesos in the first half of the year, up from COP28 billion in the same period a year ago, thanks to rising profit from its insurance unit.
Grupo Suramericana's units, mainly the insurance company Suramericana SA, transferred COP158 billion to the holding company, eight times more than in the same period in 2008, the company said.
Jairo Agudelo, a market analyst with local brokerage Interbolsa SA, said the company's insurance business had a better performance than expected.
Dividends from its stakes in other companies rose 36% in the first half from the same period in 2008.
Last month, Chief Executive David Bojanini said the company's net profit in 2009 will rise 7% or 8% above last year's COP273 billion.
Grupo Suramericana holds stakes in the country's largest bank, Bancolombia SA, in the country's largest food company Grupo Nacional de Chocolates and the largest cement company Cementos Argos SA.
Shares of Grupo Suramericana rose 1.6% Thursday to COP21,240, while the IGBC stock index increased 2.2%.
