Insurance premiums, profit up in first half

THE INSURANCE industry posted robust growth in both premiums and profit during the first half, the latest Insurance Commission data released last Friday showed.

In end-June, the industry’s total net income jumped 32.7 percent to P10.9 billion from P8.2 billion a year ago. The life insurance sector reported a 31.3-percent increase in profit to P9 billion, while that of non-life grew 40.4 percent to P1.8 billion.

Total premiums, meanwhile, rose a faster 42 percent to P116.1 billion from P81.8 billion last year. Premiums of life companies climbed 49.5 percent to P98.8 billion; net premiums written by non-life insurance firms increased by 10.5 percent to 17.3 billion.

The industry’s assets stood at P1.1 trillion, up from P951.7 billion during the first six months of 2014. A higher asset base means the domestic insurance industry has bigger resources and better capability to assume its liabilities.

First-half investments likewise increased by 17.2 percent to P929.9 billion from P793.6 billion as of June last year.

At the end of the first half, the penetration rate—the share of insurance sales to the gross domestic product—inched up to 1.84 percent, Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc told a press conference. Dooc said they were targeting the insurance penetration rate in the country to reach the Asean average of 3 percent by 2019.

Preliminary data showed that the top 10 life insurance firms during the first half in terms of premiums were Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., Philippine AXA Life, BPI Philam, Philam Life, Pru Life Insurance Corp. of UK, Insular Life Insurance, Sunlife Grepa Financial, Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Philippines) Inc., PNB Life Insurance Inc. and Generali Pilipinas Life Assurance Corp.

The Philippine Life Insurance Association Inc. (PLIA) expects life insurance premiums to hit P200 billion this year.