Watch: Prices Could Go Up Due To Inflation, Leading Maltese Insurance Firm’s Chief Finance Officer Admits
The chief financial officer of one of Malta’s leading insurance firms has hinted that the company could increase its prices as a result of the global inflation crisis.
During a recent interview on NET TV’s Flusek, MAPFRE Middlesea plc’s James Mallia was asked what the company’s biggest challenges are and he immediately responded by pointing at the global inflation crisis.
“Inflation will have a direct impact on the company’s internal costs, but particularly on claim costs,” Mallia explained.
“When it comes to claims, we are paying for products and services that are becoming more expensive, so obviously the company’s main challenge is to evaluate and examine these increases and react by adjusting our product prices to ultimately keep on giving our shareholder an adequate return.”
View this post on Instagram
MAPFRE Middlesea plc and its subsidiary MAPFRE MSV Life plc registered a pre-tax profit of €11.76 million for the first six months of 2022, up from €10.98 million recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Its profit after tax and non-controlling interests, allocated to shareholders, amounted to €5.17 million as compared to €4.93 million in 2021.
Mallia’s statement goes to show how the inflation crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on Russia can cause a chain reaction of higher prices across the board.
Western nations are in the midst of an inflation crisis, with Eurozone inflation hitting a record high of 8.9% in July and the UK’s inflation rate soaring to a 40-year high of 10.1% that month.
Malta’s annual inflation is estimated to rise to 6.5% in July, the lowest rate in the Eurozone, largely the result of huge government energy subsidies to prevent electricity, fuel and water prices from rising.
Is the government doing enough to react to the inflation crisis?
READ NEXT: Joseph Micallef Charged With Noel Ciantar's Attempted Murder Following Dingli Shooting
