Medellin-based insurance, asset management and health-care multinational Grupo Sura announced February 28 that its full-year 2022 net income jumped 47% year-on-year, to COP$2.1 trillion (US$488 million).

Revenues also rose by 26% year-on-year, to a record COP$31.4 trillion (US$7.36 billion), the seventh straight year of revenue hikes (averaging 15.6% over those seven years).

The good performance was “driven by the recovery of Suramericana [insurance division[, the resilience of Sura Asset Management and the positive performance of Grupo Bancolombia, Grupo Nutresa and Grupo Argos,” the latter three in which Sura has equity interests, the company noted.

Adjusted return on equity stood at 9.9%, compared to 7.9% the previous year, “higher than what was budgeted at the beginning of the year.”

Sura also “improved its leverage indicator with a reduction in the ratio of net debt to dividends received from its investments from a multiple of 6.6 times to 3.9, thus advancing in our de-leveraging process,” according to the company.

“Despite a more challenging regional and global environment, the five strategic investments in the portfolio showed good dynamics in 2022. This gives us a very positive perspective on the expected cash flow of Grupo Sura for 2023 and will allow us to improve our debt indicators, as part of the gradual de-leveraging process,” added Sura vice-president Ricardo Jaramillo.

Grupo Sura’s equity closed 2022 at COP$33.7 trillion (US$7.01 billion), up 21% compared to 2021, the company added.

In the insurance division, profit boosts came from a 24% annual increase in retained premiums (COP$21.7 trillion/US$4.47 billion), including a 17% hike in life-insurance retained premiums and a 19% hike in health premiums, while “expense controls partially mitigated the increase in accidents, particularly in autos and health, which began to stabilize towards the end of the year,” according go Sura.

At Sura Asset Management, “results for 2022 were resilient in a difficult year for capital markets and a more challenging macroeconomic environment,” according to the company.

This division showed a net profit of COP$440.6 billion (US$104 million) “driven by the recovery of income from investments in the fourth quarter,” despite a “slight decrease of 4% in savings for retirement (pensions),” according to the company.

“During the last year we sought to mitigate with operational efficiencies, reduction of expenses and a positive performance of the labor markets in the region, effects such as lower returns from the financial markets and the regulatory reduction of the commission rate in Mexico,” said Ignacio Calle, President of Sura Asset Management.