GUARDIAN ROYAL SEES EXPANSION IN LIFE ASSURANCE
Insurance group Guardian Royal Exchange
Plc <GREX.L> said it would expand its life assurance business
and push further into European markets, but that U.K.
Underwriting losses remained a heavy drag on profits.
    Earlier, the group had announced sharply increased pre-tax
profits of 143.8 mln stg for calendar 1986, versus 3.5 mln the
previous year.
    "We are anxious to develop our life assurance business,"
group managing director Peter Dugdale told a news conference.
"If we have a thrust for the coming years, it is probably best
to spend more time on life in the U.K. And abroad," he said.
 Reuter
