COMPETITIVE pressure from direct insurers is starting to have a
significant impact on traditional sales outlets and Sun Alliance is
planning to scale back its Swinton chain of brokers.
The group plans to close 64 branches out of 690 with the loss of 200
jobs. Instead, the existing direct sales operation, which has 1,250,000
customers, is to be scaled up with a new national telemarketing centre
and there are plans to move into Europe.
This comes as the group reports a big recovery in profits, which were
nearly trebled to #180m for the first half of the year. The interim
divided is raised 5% to 5.5p.
Chief executive Roger Taylor said there was a satisfactory
underwriting profit and good progress was made in overseas general and
life insurance. The recovery in profits was now ''well founded''.
In the UK, personal business achieved a ''healthy underwriting
profit'', and UK commercial business also turned in a good performance.
Profits on motor insurance were deemed acceptable and mortgage
indemnity losses were again reduced. Insurance profits were also
achieved in several European operations.
The stock market slide in the summer led to a fall in shareholders'
assets, but this was partly offset by an upturn in the group's worldwide
property portfolio, and since then share prices have largely recovered.
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