Pre-need companies’ combined profit almost doubled in the first half, showing signs of recovery of a sector that left thousands of plan holders with nothing when several firms collapsed in the early 2000s.
The latest Insurance Commission data showed that the pre-need industry posted a net income of P595.2 million as of the end of June,up 98.7 percent from P299.6 million a year ago.
The first-half figure was a reversal of the 40.7-percent year-on-year decline in profit posted in the first quarter.
Total premium income grew 8.2 percent to P7.9 billion from P7.3 billion a year ago.
As of June, 357,794 pre-need plans were sold, 5.6-percent higher than the 338,798 last year.
While sales of life plans rose 6.1 percent year-on-year to 348,037, the number of pension and education plans sold from January to June declined by 8.5 percent to 9,283 and 3.1 percent to 474, respectively.
The sector’s total assets at end-June rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year to P122.5 billion, outpacing the 4.4-percent growth in total liabilities to P100.7 billion.
Investment in trust funds grew 4.1 percent to P104.8 billion, while pre-need reserves rose by almost 5 percent to P94.2 billion.
Total net worth jumped 10.7 percent year-on-year to P21.8 billion, as capital stock rose 16.2 percent to P4.1 billion.
As of Sept. 29, 17 pre-need firms had been issued by the Insurance Commission with certificates of authority for license year 2016. The companies were AMA Plans, Ayala Plans , Caritas Financial Plans , CityPlans Inc., CocoPlans ., Destiny Financial Plans, Eternal Plans Inc., First Union Plans Inc., Himlayang Pilipino Plans Inc., Manulife Financial Plans Inc., Mercantile Care Plans Inc., Paz Memorial Services Inc., PhilPlans First Inc., St. Peter Life Plan Inc., Sunlife Financial Plans, Transnational Plans and Trusteeship Plans.
Despite the payments made by troubled Loyola Plans Consolidated Inc. to its plan holders, the Insurance Commission has yet to grant the company a license to operate.
In May, the Insurance Commission ordered companies to disclose their respective latest financial performance on company websites. —Ben O. de Vera