BEIJING, April 6 -- Swiss Life Holding, Switzerland's largest life insurer, reported its highest annual profit since 2000, helped by investment gains, and plans to restore its dividend after three years without a payout.

    Net income more than doubled to 624 million Swiss francs (US$515 million), or 20.50 francs (US$16.89) a share, from 233 million francs (US$192 million), or 8.83 francs (US$7.27), in 2003, Zurich-based Swiss Life said yesterday.

    Profit surpassed the 524 million-franc (US$432 million) median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company plans a 4-franc dividend after investment income and gains rose 14 per cent to 6.7 billion francs (US$5.5 billion).

    Swiss Life last year was helped by 164 million francs (US$135 million) of one-time gains resulting from changes in the Swiss occupational benefits system that allowed the company to release reserves for future payouts. Chief Executive Officer Rolf Doerig returned the company to profit in 2003 by cutting more than 1,500 jobs and selling businesses after Swiss Life had a 1.7 billion-franc (US$1.4 billion) loss in 2002, a record for the 149-year-old company.

    The company now "can view the future with confidence," Doerig said. The results were Swiss Life's highest since 2000, when profit was 924 million francs (US$761 million). Gross premiums grew 8 per cent to 20.3 billion francs (US$16.7 billion).

    "We made a substantial improvement in our results, grew our market share and reinforced our financial strength," Doerig told reporters. "We are more than committed to delivering on our targets."

    Doerig reiterated a goal to reach a "sustainable" return on equity of more than 10 per cent and to grow by at least 1 per cent more than the market average in all of its markets. Return on equity last year reached 10.7 per cent, double the previous year's.

    Swiss Life shares have climbed 10.6 per cent this year compared with the 4.4 per cent advance of the 28-member Bloomberg Europe 500 Insurance Index. The stock has surged 80 per cent since Doerig, a former executive at Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest bank, was named CEO in November 2002.

    Under Doerig, the company refocused on life insurance after expanding in asset management in the 1990s, including the 2.4 billion-franc (US$1.9 billion) acquisition of Banca del Gottardo, a private bank based in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1999. Swiss Life last year failed to find a buyer for the bank and raised 1.15 billion francs (US$947 million) in shares and convertible bonds to transfer ownership of the unit to shareholders from policyholders.

    The share sale helped boost Swiss Life's equity, which backs new business, by 35 per cent to 6.7 billion francs (US$5.5 billion) last year.

    The company's financial result, including realized investment gains and losses and investment income, rose on the sale of fixed-income securities.

    The insurer in February agreed to sell parts of its La Suisse subsidiary to Groupe Vaudoise Assurances of Lausanne, Switzerland, as Swiss Life exited the property and casualty business in its home market. Swiss Life is merging La Suisse's life insurance business with its own.

    (Source: China Daily by Philipp Goellner)