Health insurance company CZ booked net profit of €500m last year, a five-fold increase on 2011, the company said on Tuesday.

CZ is one of the biggest health insurance groups in the country with 3.3 million policyholders.

CZ chairman Wim van der Meeren said he had mixed feelings about the rise, given the recent unease about excessive health insurance profits.

‘We’ve booked good results but some MPs consider that to be a scandal,’ Van der Meeren is quoted as saying by the NRC. ‘But that is something I don’t understand. All the money we earn is ploughed back into healthcare.’

Banks

The increase is due to changes in central bank requirements and unexpected extra cash from the health ministry, Van der Meeren said.

Last week the Dutch central bank said health insurance companies booked combined profits of €1.4bn last year, double the 2011 figure.

While the increase in profits is to be welcomed, this should be passed back to customers in the form of lower premiums, health minister Edith Schippers said at the time.