Migdal warns on profit; trading suspended

The insurance company expects first quarter net profit to fall to NIS 90 million from NIS 114 million for the corresponding quarter.

Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL) has notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) that it expects to report a net profit of NIS 90 million for the first quarter of 2012, and a comprehensive net profit (profit plus the valuation of assets available for sale, which is attributed to the capital fund) of NIS 180 million. For the sake of comparison, the company posted a net profit of NIS 114 million for the corresponding quarter of 2011; the estimate reflects a 21% drop.

Migdal said that the profit warning was due to "information included in reports to the public by Generali, the controlling shareholder in the company, in Italy." Migdal added that its accountants had not yet completed auditing its financial statements, and that the report had not yet been discussed or sent to the audit committee and board of directors for approval, so that the actual results, which will be published in late May, could be different.

Assicurazioni Generali SpA owns 69.13% of Migdal. Earlier this year, Shlomo Eliahu announced that he would acquire Generali's stake in the company, in a deal due to be closed later this year.

Migdal's share price rose 1%, to NIS 5.18, giving a market cap of NIS 5.4 billion, before the TASE suspended trading in the share. Trading resumed at 11:18.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 22, 2012

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012

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