The country’s fourth-largest life insurer reported its best results to date on Wednesday, saying its focus on cutting costs had paid off.

Core headline earnings per share for the financial year to December 2004 had increased by 49 percent on the previous financial year.

The company also said its outlook for the year was positive, boosted by the increase in disposable income due to inflation and lower interest rates, and increased business confidence.

The total dividend per share declared by the group was up by 21 percent on the prior year at 52 cents.

The company noted that new recurring premium business increased by 48 percent from R884-million in 2003 to R1.3-billion in 2004.

Total assets under group management exceed R50-billion, Metropolitan said.

Metropolitan shares rose 1.35 percent to end at 11.30 rand on the JSE on Wednesday.

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