IL&P subsidiary sells for €26m

IRISH Life & Permanent (IL&P) has sold its overseas life assurance and investment product subsidiary, Irish Life International, to Swedish financial services provider, SEB Life for a cash consideration of €26 million.

Irish Life International (ILI), which generated a post-tax profit, in 2009, of €1.1m and has gross assets worth €1.73bn — sells life assurance and investment products throughout the European market, via an international network of introducers and tied agents. It currently has assets under management and premium income of around €2bn and €370m, respectively.

The business is not a core element of the wider IL&P group and its disposal is consistent with the group’s strategic focus on the Irish market.

A spokesperson for the group said that the deal would be mutually beneficial as it would allow IL&P to focus more clearly on its core businesses here and would grant ILI the resources and management to drive its ongoing growth.

The completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approval, including that of the Irish Central Bank.

Just last week, IL&P stated that it expects its impairment provisions for 2010 to be up by between €80m and €100m — mainly due to a deterioration in Ireland’s economic outlook and a revised downwards outlook for the speed of growth here.

It is due to issue its full-year group financial results next week — nearly a month ahead of the release of the details of the Central Bank’s new capital requirement guidelines for the Irish banks.

Before Christmas, IL&P said that it expected its 2010 results to show a significant narrowing in terms of operating losses.