Tower first-half profit sinks 70% as 2013 asset sale gains wash through

Tower first-half profit sinks 70% as 2013 asset sale gains wash through
By Paul McBeth May. 27 (BusinessDesk) - Tower, which sold its health, life, and investment units to focus on general insurance, reported a 70 percent slide in first-half earnings, reflecting gains from asset sales a year earlier that weren't repeated. Net profit dropped to $13.1 million in the six months ended March 31, from $44.2 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Tower's continuing operations, which exclude the asset sale gains and remnant life insurance business, made a profit of $10 million, or 4.9...