Sri Lanka’s Janashakthi Insurance PLC (JIPLC) has reported 17% growth in net profit-after-tax reaching Rs. 770 million and revenue of Rs. 6.8 billion with a growth of 13% during the financial year 2010.
In a statement, Chairman of Janashakthi Insurance PLC W.T Ellawala said, “rising above the challenges, Janashakthi achieved a total gross premium of Rs. 6.158 billion which is an 8 % increase over 2009. The contribution of the General Insurance business was Rs. 4.5 billion and from Life Insurance Rs. 1.68 billion. I see this as a very positive trend amidst the challenges of an excessively competitive industry”.
He said a substantial part of this financial success came from the prudent and efficient management of the group’s investment portfolio. “We invested in a range of long and short-term instruments including gilt-edge securities and equity. This was as a result of our investment committee taking advantage of the bullish sentiment that prevailed at the Colombo Stock Exchange during 2010. During the year, we disposed of some of our strategic quoted equity investments, booking substantial profits that contributed significantly to the result for the year.”
He said the General sector growth in 2010 fell below expectations and failed to match the previous year’s increase of 9 % which may be attributed to a variety of reasons the most important being the entry of several new players offering very low premium rates albeit unviable and unsustainable in the longer term. Another reason was the strategic decision to discontinue certain accounts which have consistently proved to be un-remunerative, he said.
The company’s Gross Written Premium (GWP) reached Rs. 6.2 billion at 8% growth and the revenue was Rs. 6.8 billion at 13% growth. The total assets of the company stood at Rs. 11.8 billion while the company life fund grew by approximately 18% to reach Rs.3.8 billion. The Company paid claims amounting to Rs. 3.1 billion, 13% higher than 2009.
Managing Director of Janashakthi Insurance PLC Prakash Schaffter said, “We will focus our sights on growing our top line in the year 2011, whilst ensuring that business written adds to the bottom line. The current and projected rates of growth for the country’s economy portend significant expansion in the insurance sector.”
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