Skandia, the Swedish insurance company fighting a hostile bid from South Africa's Old Mutual, today reaffirmed its conviction to remain independent after reporting pre-tax profits up 69% to Skr 398m (€41.4m) in the three months to September 30.

The company said strong inflows of new money and a 41% rise in assets under management helped push revenues up from SKr 737m to SKr 1.14bn, beating market forecasts.