The results for the year ended 31 December 2009 reflect a continuation of the tough underwriting conditions that have impacted the insurance industry. In addition, the Company incurred a number of significant non-recurring losses unrelated to its normal underwriting activity. To better reflect core business operations the ˜normalised˜ result is separately highlighted in Note 4.

Gross premium income grew by 1.7% to R5.4 billion (2008: R5.3 billion). This follows the cancellation of underperforming blocks of business amounting to R500 million, mainly in the Personal Lines Group Schemes portfolio, which no longer met the Group’s stricter underwriting criteria.
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