Prague/Amsterdam - PPF Group, a Netherlands-based finance group controlled by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, yesterday published a consolidated net profit for the first half of 2008 worth EUR 2.732 billion.

That is 12-times more than a year earlier, when the company netted EUR 215 million. The group almost tripled its total equity between mid-2007 and mid-2008 to EUR 1.432 billion.

Consolidated assets decreased by 13 percent year-on-year to EUR 8.787 billion. The company said changes in the structure of its insurance assets were behind the drop.

Company spokesman Jiří Hájek said the financial statement reflects the establishment of a joint venture with the insurance group Generali, which was finalised in January 2008.

In the transaction, both groups transferred their insurance assets in central and eastern Europe into a jointly owned entity, Generali PPF Holding. PPF subsequently sold part of its share in the holding to Generali, keeping 49 percent while Generali controls 51 percent.