Profits and surpluses up at Bupa

Group underlying surplus before tax for the first half of the year was £247.2m.

The company's Europe and North American division made a revenue of £1464.3, which was down 2%, and a 37% contribution to group revenue.

However revenues were up 1% when excluding the sale of Bupa Health Assurance.

The division includes Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK; Health Dialog, a US healthcare analytic service; Sanitas in Spain and the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London,

Bupa's International Markets division incorporates, Bupa Australia, Bupa International, Bupa Latin America plus business in Hong Kong, Thailand, Arabia and India.

It made £1872.2m for the first half of the year, with a 48% contribution. This is an increase of 14%.

Bupa's care Services division added £558.7m, a 15% contribution and up 1%.

It incorporates: Bupa Care Services UK, with 300 care homes, Bupa Care Services Australia, with 47 homes; Bupa Care Services New Zealand, at 44 care homes and retirement villages and Sanitas Residencial, providing care in 40 care homes in Spain.

Care Services also includes Bupa Home Healthcare a provider of healthcare services to patients in their homes or communities.

Bupa described profitability as "stable" in Care Services UK, with careful management of costs offsetting weak public sector fees and referrals.

Commenting on the results, Ray King, Bupa's Chief Executive, said: "Bupa has achieved good momentum in Australia, Asia and in our expatriate health insurance business.

"In Europe, despite tough economic conditions, we improved performance in our health insurance businesses by focusing on customer retention and operational efficiency.

"In UK Care Services, we continued to control costs carefully to mitigate the impact of extreme pressure on public sector fees and referrals, and delivered further good growth in Australia and New Zealand where market conditions were stable."

Our businesses continue to invest strongly in new products and services to enhance our offer to customers."