Chief executive officer of Guardian Holdings Limited Rory O'Brien.- File

The Guardian Holdings Group said this week it is looking to the region's Spanish-speaking countries for growth opportunities, and is in negotiations with unnamed parties.

Group chief executive Rory O'Brien announced in Kingston that the company has its eyes on two or three businesses which it will buy if the prices are right.

"We are trying to look at some manageable acquisitions in the Spanish-speaking countries," he said.

"We now have confidence and the strength to go back into the market. We have identified two or three at the moment."

Emerging from fallouts

The group is only just emerging from financial fallout sustained after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

The picture has changed somewhat for the company up to the company's second quarter this year ending June 30, after last year's losses.

"Nearly all Guardian Holdings business is showing an operating gain," said O'Brien Tuesday at an investors briefing in Kingston. gain," said O'Brien Tuesday at an investors briefing in Kingston.

Those businesses are spread across Trinidad, Jamaica, the Dutch Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

The Group's recorded 2Q operating profit of TT$82 million, coming from a loss of TT$109 million in the comparative June 2006 quarter.

Net profit was TT$28 million, a strong turnaround from the previous year's TT$155 million loss.

Performance turnaround

The turnaround in performance resulted largely from a TT$200 million gain in net insurance premium income, which grew to TT$1.03 billion as well as a tighter rein on expenses which dropped by $20 million to TT$451 million.

Guardian subsidiary, GHL Europe, which is just emerging from what the company described as 'a challenging period, has trimmed its U.K. operations, cutting 26 to 27 per cent of its workforce.

The company anticipates a 10 per cent gain off those savings in the periods ahead, according to O'Brien.

He said 90 per cent of the business in the U.K. is motor insurance and that its target markets are taxis, fleets and young female drivers.

The U.K. floods in June and July said O'Brien had significant net effect of £300 million on the property side of the business.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com