Insurer mulls float after Medibank sale deferred

SYDNEY - MBF, Australia's second-biggest private health insurer, said it was considering a sharemarket listing after the Government deferred the up to A$2 billion ($2.3 billion) sale of top insurer Medibank Private.

Speaking after MBF reported a 21 per cent rise in fiscal 2006 net profit to A$181 million, chief executive Eric Dodd said the fund was revisiting growth options that were put on hold when it was seeking to buy Medibank.

"We've never had plans to float this business but we will certainly look at and discuss with our council all of the options we believe are available to us," Dodd said. "You have to look at floating a business as one of those, clearly."

The Government said on Tuesday it would defer the Medibank sale until 2008 to avoid a clash with the sale of A$8 billion worth of its shares in top phone company Telstra in the next few months.

- REUTERS