S. Korean insurers’ net income rises in H1

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) — South Korean insurance companies’ combined net income rose in the first half owing to a double-digit increase in income for non-life insurers that offset lower income for life insurers, financial watchdog data showed Monday.
Preliminary net income of 22 life insurers and 31 non-life insurers totaled 9.36 trillion won (7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months of this year, up 2.8 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Net income for the life insurers reduced 9.4 percent over the year to 3.59 trillion won (2.7 billion dollars) in the first half due to lower investment income, affected by losses on the valuation of financial assets.
Net profit for the non-life insurers advanced 12.2 percent to 5.77 trillion won (4.3 billion dollars) on higher sales of insurance products and lower liabilities for incurred claims.
Premium income for the insurers grew 3.9 percent to 115.69 trillion won (86.4 billion dollars) in the first half on the back of solid demand for protection-type and savings-type insurance products among life insurers and demand for long-term and general insurance products as well as retirement pension among non-life insurers.
Return on assets for the insurers, or a major gauge of profitability, fell 0.04 percentage points over the year to 1.52 percent in the first half, but return on equity gained 0.72 percentage points to 11.79 percent. ■