Access America 2008 Annual Report Download - page 24

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 24 of the 2008 Access America annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 54

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54

20 Mondial Assistance Annual Report 2008
Australia: Strengthening
market positions
Our Australian business enjoyed +14%
growth, and reinforced its lead position in
core markets – travel insurance, automo-
tive assistance, overseas student health
insurance and international medical assis-
tance. All of these, plus e-travel insurance,
contributed to growth. We improved our
operating profit (+52%) by adopting lower,
cost-base best practices in each respec-
tive market. A dedicated team focused
on growth through innovation, notably on
developing customer value.
China: Reaching out to the auto
and fi nancial industries
We launched several new car manufac-
turer programs in 2008 and continued to
report strong growth in roadside assis-
tance. Our Chinese BU also focused
on the financial sector. Today, we count
several leading Chinese financial institu-
tions among our partners. Changes in
travel insurance regulations early in the
year adversely affected our bottom and
top line travel insurance results.
India: Year one operations
successful
During our first year in India we focused
on developing roadside assistance for
the auto industry. We signed contracts
with manufacturers, leasing and insu-
rance companies. Today we are the
sector’s market leader. We also launched
CRM and claims notification services
and began to pave the way for travel
insurance in 2009. An added bonus was
recognition for our quality services in a
very challenging market.
Japan: Customers pleased
with improved service delivery
2008 was an excellent year for Millea
Mondial. Despite the difficult economic
context, sales revenues climbed 27%
and we exceeded profit targets. Most
growth came from traditional roadside
assistance services. We also launched
innovative pet insurance, automation
projects and impro-
v e d p r o c e s s e s .
Today we offer more
streamlined, afforda-
ble customer service
delivery.
Singapore & South East Asia:
Increased dynamics in travel
insurance
In Singapore, our regional hub, we conti-
nued to develop e-commerce travel
insurance, and successfully launched
it in Malaysia. We also concluded travel
insurance programs for hotel-only boo-
king portals. Online booking agents in
Singapore can now get ticket protection
insurance.
Thailand: profi t steady despite
diffi cult times
2008 was a difficult year for Thailand.
The ongoing political crisis and civil
unrest at airports impacted our turno-
ver. However, we still delivered a healthy
profit. How? By fiercely implementing
robust cost containment policies!
With modest growth (+7.9%) in 2008, we fell slightly short
of targets. But with strong contributions from Australia and Japan,
our profi tability was up (+49.3%) over the same period in 2007.
Signs of commercial slowdown appeared in Q3 when our main auto
and travel partners saw demand fall. The slowdown spanned all
regions, even those that had been enjoying double-digit growth.
Asia-Pacifi c
9.5%
of Group
turnover
+7.9%
in turnover
International presence