ASSICURAZIONI Generali SpA's first-quarter profit rose as Italy's biggest insurer expanded outside Italy, co-Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Perissinotto said.
First-quarter net income had "double-digit growth," said Perissinotto, speaking last Saturday at the annual shareholders' meeting in Trieste, Italy, where the insurer is based. The company's first-quarter 2007 earnings were 715 million euros (US$1.1 billion). Generali is scheduled to announce results on May 8.
The company is expanding in eastern Europe and considering acquisitions in countries including the United States, Russia and Romania to offset a slowdown in its home life-insurance market. Chairman Antoine Bernheim said last Saturday it may be interested in Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's Direct Line insurance unit, according to Bloomberg News.
Generali's management, led by Bernheim, is under increasing pressure to improve earnings and governance after investment funds Algebris Investments LLP and Franklin Mutual Advisers, a unit of Franklin Resources Inc, criticized its performance, saying growth lags behind bigger rivals Allianz SE and Axa SA.
Bernheim said at the meeting that first-quarter life premiums were more than 12 billion euros.
Casualty premiums totaled almost 7 billion euros, while overall insurance policy sales advanced 5 percent, Bernheim told shareholders.