Bupa has reported an 8% increase in revenues to £9.1bn; according to the health insurer's preliminary results for 2013.
Underlying profit before taxation up 5% to £638.5m; over ten years of unbroken growth.
Across the business, customer numbers up 57% to 22m, including 5.4m (39%) added through major acquisitions.
In Bupa's UK health business, customer revenues increased by 2% year-on-year while customer numbers were stable, reflecting new contracts and expansion in Bupa Home Healthcare and Bupa Health Clinics. However, the UK health insurance market remained static.
Stuart Fletcher, CEO of Bupa said: "We saw a much needed improvement in profitability in the UK, as operating cost-saving programmes as well as initiatives to improve healthcare commissioning began to deliver results."
In its results, Bupa said it had "performed well despite a challenging trading environment with constraints on both public and private spending and a flat private health insurance market."
Underlying profits increased overall, with a "much needed improvement" for the health insurance business partly offset by continued public funding pressure in Bupa's care homes.
Bupa Health Funding delivered good, and much needed, growth in profit year-on-year, the results revealed.
Bupa said this growth was driven by reduced operating costs and more effective management of healthcare costs, as we continued to implement initiatives to tackle unsustainable medical inflation.
Market conditions "remained challenging" given constrained consumer spending and falling income in real terms. The market as a whole was flat year-on-year and aggressive price-led competition ensued.
Bupa said: "We believe the actions we have taken to improve operating margins in the health insurance business, allowing us to cover our cost of capital, are the first important steps to putting the business back on a sustainable footing for the long-term.
"Reforms recommended by the Competition Commission also signal a positive step that, if implemented, would aid sustainability of the market."
Its plans for 2014 include continued expansion in the dental market, in line with an intention to open at least 50 centres by 2015.
