Suncorp Metway isn’t responding just yet to the most-asked question in the industry: how is it going to integrate the AMP general insurance operations? Public Affairs Head Joe Dowling says there will be no announcements on details until the deal is finalised at the end of next month, at which point the ACCC and other parties are expected to give the deal their seal of approval.

While Mr Dowling says there will be no integration planning until then, industry insiders say there is already plenty of midnight oil being burned as the company prepares to deal with a merger that other larger companies shied away from as being a bit too big to eat in one bite.

The integration exercise may help to distract the company from a falling profit and a discouraging underwriting result for the past year. Suncorp Metway’s 2000/2001 profit was down 32% to a pre-tax profit of $163 million, compared with $211 million last year.

The underwriting loss – rapidly becoming an unfashionable aspect of 21^st century balance sheets – was $85 million, more than double the 1999/00 loss.

An experienced player in the integration market, Suncorp Metway will be following the same principles it followed in 1996 when it was created from the merger of Queensland’s Suncorp Insurance and Metway Bank operations.

Expect lots of activity from the new Number Two insurer in January as it begins the assimilation task. Mr Dowling said the company will use a “bottom-up” approach, relying on its 3000 former GIO and AMP staff for assistance in the transformation. The company will “work with all staff”.