SAO PAULO, November 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The health insurance portfolio is growing faster than the market and already the company has 2.4 million insured

SulAmerica S.A. (BM&FBovespa: SULA11) reported premium revenues of R$ 2.4 billion in the third quarter of 2011, a 9.6% increase compared to the same period last year, and 6.9% compared to the previous quarter. This result reflects an increase the company's sales of insurance policies, in particular health insurance, with an 18.1% increase in premiums compared to the third quarter of 2010.

Health and dental plans, which account for 66.5% of all SulAmerica premiums, generated R$ 1.6 billion in premium revenue in the third quarter, an 18.1% increase compared to the third quarter of 2010 and 7.8% compared to 2Q11.  Most of the company's growth was in its corporate and small and mid-sized business health portfolios, which grew 20.7% and 35.3% respectively compared to the same quarter last year, due to the increase in the number of insured and the price adjustments applied to existing policies.

"The strength of our 30 thousand brokers, plus our differentiated products and services make SulAmerica an aspirational brand, especially in health insurance. By creating a product for small and mid-sized businesses - starting at three insured lives -, we offer access to a wider segment of the population, and our outstanding performance is a reflection of that" said SulAmerica CEO Thomaz Cabral de Menezes.

Information from the Brazil's National Health Agency (Agencia Nacional de  Saude Suplementar - ANS) shows that in the first half of 2011 revenue in the private health insurance was R$ 33.3 billion, an 11.5% increase compared to the same period in 2010. Over this same period of time SulAmerica's revenue from health insurance increased 15.4%.

In the dental care segment, the company's revenue increased 112.1% compared to the third quarter of 2010, and 29.4% compared to 2Q11, reaching R$ 22 million. In this area SulAmerica benefitted from the incorporation of Dental Plan and its strategy to seek organic growth of its portfolio, offering dental coverage to its health clients.

Auto insurance, responsible for 23.8% of the company's premium revenue, grew 6.1% compared to 2Q11, but dropped 5.5% compared to the third quarter of 2010, adding up to R$ 581.4 million in revenue, with some 1.5 million insured vehicles.

In other property/casual lines the company's premium revenue reached R$ 120 million, a 2.4% growth compared to 3Q10. SulAmerica continues to improve its risk acceptance policies for its property/casualty portfolio; transportation insurance has grown 102%, fire insurance 4.9% and mass  market products 6.5%.

SulAmerica's loss ratio in the third quarter of this year was 76.2%, a 5.7 percentage point increase compared to the same quarter in 2010, and a 2 point drop compared to 2Q11. The combined ratio was 100.7%. The company ended the quarter with net income of R$ 98 million, a 227.1% growth compared to 2Q11, but a 19.6% drop compared to the third quarter last year.

For the second consecutive year SulAmerica was elected the best financial services company in the 2011 Abrasca Value Creation Prize, an award given to the companies with the highest value creation over the past three years, with sustainable results and excellence in risk control, transparency and socio-environmental performance.

SulAmerica was also considered the "best company to shareholders in 2011" among companies with market caps varying between R$ 5 billion and R$ 15 billion. This league table is prepared by Capital Aberto magazine and lists the companies with outstanding business and share profitability, liquidity, corporate governance and sustainability.

In a recent survey by O Globo and Grupo Troiano de Branding, SulAmerica was elected "the preferred insurance brand by Rio de Janeiro's citizens", showing that clients recognize the company's effort to offer agile, transparent and high quality services.

The Sul America Investimentos D.T.V.M. S.A. also announced that for the third consecutive year Standard & Poors rated the company "AMP-1 - Very Strong".

SOURCE Sul America S.A.