reportedsecond-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of 705 million Norwegiankroner, up from 255 million kroner in the year-ago period.

EPS for the quarterwas 1.57 kroner, compared to 57 øre a year earlier.

Premiumincome for the quarter amounted to 5.90 billion kroner, compared to theyear-ago 5.81 billion kroner; net interest income from banking activities wasunchanged at 95 million kroner.

For theperiod, net income from equities and other units at fair value for customersamounted to 2.74 billion kroner, compared to a loss of 3.06 billion kroner ayear earlier. Net income from financial derivatives at fair value for customerswas 1.23 billion kroner, compared to a loss of 1.36 billion kroner a year ago.

Insuranceclaims rose year-over-year to 5.76 billion kroner from 5.17 billion kroner.The company booked a charge of 6.79 billion kroner for the change in insuranceliabilities, compared to a benefit of 2.23 billion kroner in the second quarterof 2015.

The combinedratio in the insurance business stood at 90%, compared to the year-ago 87%. Theresult before amortization in the insurance business was 153 million kroner,down from 192 million kroner a year earlier. In the guaranteedpension business, the result was 237 million kroner, compared to 183 million ayear ago.

For thequarter, annualized ROE after tax, adjusted for amortization and write-downs ofintangible assets, stood at 12.9%, down from 5.9% a year ago.

For the firsthalf, attributable profit rose year-over-year to 1.01 billion kroner from 501million kroner.

The groupSolvency II margin was 172% as of June-end, compared to 175% at the end ofMarch and 168% at the end of December 2015.

As of July13, US$1 was equivalent to 8.42 Norwegian kroner.