2019 good year for insurance industry as income rises to P45.12B

The insurance industry’s bottom line grew by over a fifth to P45.12 billion in 2019 as a result of sustained strong sales and insurers’ bigger net worth, the Insurance Commission (IC) said on Tuesday (May 26).

In a statement, the IC said last year’s total industry net income across life and non-life insurers, including mutual benefit associations, climbed 20.38 percent from P37.48 billion in 2018.

Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said the figures were from data submitted by companies.

Funa said the reports showed that there was a “significant growth of the life insurance industry’s net income.”

Increases in premium income, commissions and underwriting earnings “drove the overall increase of the net income of the entire insurance industry,” Funa said.

Although unaudited, the data showed “all sectors of the insurance industry” grew in the fourth quarter of 2019 in terms of assets, net worth, investments and premiums.

Total premiums or sales across industry rose 4.99 percent to P304.64 billion in 2019.

Industrywide investments jumped 19.89 percent last year to P1.59 billion, while total assets increased 13.03 percent to P1.78 trillion.

The higher asset base meant that the industry has larger resources and better capability to assume liabilities.

Also, the industry’s aggregate net worth expanded by 13.04 percent to P381.59 billion at end-2019 from P337.55 billion in 2018.

Republic Act (RA) No. 10607 or the Amended Insurance Code mandated all insurers in the country to have at least P900 million in net worth as of Dec. 31, 2019.

Funa had said only six companies were non-compliant with the net worth requirement before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Edited by TSB