The Mapfre Group, of which Middlesea Insurance plc is a member, appointed a new chairman, Antonio Huertas, after its recent annual general meeting.

The AGM also heard that last year the group achieved a net result of €963 million, 3.2 per cent higher than the previous year.

Mr Huertas takes over from José Manuel Martínez, who has been chairman of Mapfre since 2001 and who has spent his entire professional career within the group.

Mr Martínez expressed his satisfaction with the appointment of Mr Huertas, paying special tribute to the numerous positions he has successfully fulfilled, as well as his innovative capability, his rigorous approach to management, his effective team leadership, his knowledge of new technologies and his ability to face business challenges.

During his speech, Mr Martínez said that, despite the difficult economic environment, in 2011 Mapfre had achieved “excellent results”, that placed the group among the largest Spanish companies. In the light of these good results, the AGM has allocated a further €0.08 to the final dividend, in addition to the €0.07 already paid in December of last year; meaning that shareholders will receive a total of € 0.15 per share.

Mr Martínez made special mention of all those who have ended their professional career at Mapfre, in particular Mr Andrés Jiménez, First Vice-Chairman until he retired in February this year, highlighting “his executive capacity, entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, performance, success, rigour, humanism, loyalty and dedication”.

During his farewell address as group chairman, Mr Martínez thanked everyone for their support and expressed his satisfaction with Mapfre’s current business situation, describing its development as excellent. “Forty years of dedication, effort and enthusiasm, with some difficult but many more positive moments: definitely excellent years”, he concluded.