Having posted a record profit of $505 million for the full year ended December 31 – an increase of 9.8% on 2004 – Promina CEO Mike Wilkins says the company has identified 148 countries for growth opportunities this year.

While the group is also seeking mid-size acquisition opportunities in Australian and New Zealand, Mr Wilkins says Promina will set up a special management team to identify “competencies” that could help the group create a competitive advantage in international markets.

“We’ve asked ourselves some benchmarking questions about our competencies and we’ve identified 148 countries, but I don’t expect we’ll have any results for that research this year,” he said last week after announcing the group’s annual profit.

Mr Wilkins said while medium-term growth opportunities in Promina’s home markets remain significant, “it is incumbent on management to investigate opportunities outside of our current home markets”.

The company will also be looking for acquisitions worth up to $100 million in Australia and New Zealand in the financial services and general insurance sectors.

Market analysts say Promina is itself a desirable takeover target. Following profit announcements last week, speculation has focused on QBE and Suncorp making a move on IAG or Promina.

Promina’s lift in net profit of 9.8% was more than many analysts expected. It reported gross written premium of $3.3 billion, up 6.8% from the previous year. The general insurance result was $337 million, up 19.5% from 2004.

Mr Wilkins says the result is “well in excess of market growth, so we’ve grown our market share”.

Promina will also return $200 million in capital to investors in the first half of this year. The company wants average growth in gross written premium of at least 5% this year.