European insurance giant Eureko has posted a net loss of £27.2m in the first half of 2003, down from a £174m profit in the same period last year.
Announcing its results, the insurer revealed that gross written premiums increased by 10% to £2.26bn, fuelled by a 29% increase in non-life premiums.
Its general insurance combined ratio improved from 103.1% to 100.4%.
A company spokesman said: "The group insurance operations have experienced, during the first half of 2003, a very positive evolution in terms of restoring their overall profitability, which had been strongly impacted in the last year by poor investment results.
"However, it must be stressed that the continuing improvements in technical results - the fruits of a drive to improve efficiency and profitability throughout the group, combined with strong premium growth - also played a major role in the financial development of our businesses and their results."
