ZURICH (Reuters) – Zurich Insurance has backed away from dealtalks in emerging markets as prices heat up, the insurer's chairmansaid in a newspaper interview.

“We're not going to be a part of the increasing competition onprice,” Zurich's chairman and former Deutsche Bank head JosefAckermann is quoted as saying in Saturday's edition of Swiss weeklyFinanz und Wirtschaft.

“Zurich's priority is profit growth over volume expansion,”Ackermann said.

Ackermann said Zurich, which according to sources was in therunning for Turkish lender Yapi Kredi Bank's insurance arm inFebruary, remains interested in deals at the right price.

“As has been the case, we would only buy if the target fits ourneeds, is similar to us in culture, and can fulfill our financialrequirements in terms of delivering profit,” Ackermann said.

He didn't elaborate on which targets Zurich had backed away fromin recent months.

Zurich, with the highest dividend yield among Switzerland'sbiggest companies, at over 6 percent, reports first-quarterearnings on May 16.