BUPA has reported a 47 per cent increase in profits, driven by strong growth in its expatriate health insurance business.

The private healthcare group, in its first set of results since selling its private hospitals unit to become a pure health insurer and operator of care homes, said that pretax profits had risen to £166 million for the six months to June 30.

It said that health insurance customers had increased by 3 per cent, lifted by strong demand from the expatriate corporate sector. Revenues of the UK insurance arm, which provides medical insurance cover for 4.3 million customers, including expats, increased by 5 per cent to £956.6 million. The care home unit increased its revenues 8 per cent to £310 million, with its profits 13 per cent higher at £55 million.

BUPA sold its 26 UK private hospitals to Cinven, the private equity firm, for £1.44 billion in July.

As a provident organisation, BUPA does not have shareholders and profits are ploughed straight back into the group. BUPA was established in 1947, has more than seven million customers in 190 countries and employs 44,000 people.

The former BUPA hospitals business, under its new ownership, is to be rebranded Spire Healthcare.

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