Swiss Life reported on Tuesday that its 2004 profit more than doubled on cost saving programs.

The total 2004 net profit rocketed to 624 million Swiss francs ($754.5 million) from 233 million francs for the prior year. Premiums rose by 8% to 20.3 billion francs.

"Swiss Life is gaining momentum. We made a substantial improvement in our results in 2004, while gaining market share and further reinforcing our financial strength," said Rolf Doerig, company’s CEO. "We want to achieve growth that is at least 1% above the market average wherever we operate," Mr. Doerig said. "We intend to achieve this by an even greater focus on our customers’ needs and satisfaction," he said, "along with even greater efficiency, and we want to achieve a sustainable return on equity of more than 10%."