Medibank management seeks sale

Medibank management is openly agitating for a sale the federal government-owned health insurance company.

I"n trying to open up these new businesses we are absolutely asking these questions and our owners are too," George Savvides, managing director of Medibank told a business lunch in Sydney yesterday. AAP reported on the speech.

"Do we need to be owned by the government to do that? Well probably not," he said.

"There's a time for every child to leave home. I'll leave you to finish that story."

With premium revenue of A$4.7 billion in the year to June 2011 Medibank has market share of more than 30 per cent.

It reported a profit of $300 million last year. Net assets are $1.6 billion.