MPI half-year results highlight investment improvement

Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) says it is on track for strong results in 2003, with net income coming in at $39.2 million for the first-half ending August 31. This is up from $26.1 million reported during the same period last year.Investment income helped the cause, up to $48 million for the six-month period. And earned revenue was up 6.8% to $338 million for the most recent six months.”However, this good news is undermined by a spike in the number and cost of serious injuries, which causes us some concern,” cautions MPI vice president of corporate finance and CFO, Barry Galenzoski. Claims costs were up 8.9% for the first half, to $295 million, largely the result of injury and physical damage claims in the second quarter of the year. In fact, injury claims costs were up a dramatic 79% during the quarter, while physical damage claims rose 3.7%.The public insurer depends on strong income in the first half of the year to offset higher claims costs in the second half due to winter driving conditions.”The upward trend in revenue allows us to head into the first of the so-called winter quarters with cautious optimism,” says Galenzoski.