Ceylinco Insurance profits soar, top Rs 1 billion

Ceylinco Insurance PLC has recorded an after tax profit of over Rs 1 billion for the year ending December 31, 2007, being an industry first once again in both segments – life and general.

The company said it retained its position as Sri Lanka's insurance industry leader in the concluded financial year, with market-leading performances from its Life and General Insurance Divisions, which this week reported a consolidated Gross Written Premium Income of Rs 17.2 billion as at 31st December 2007.

General Insurance reported premium income of Rs 10.35 billion, comprising of Rs 6.2 billion from Motor Insurance and Rs 4.1 billion from Non-motor insurance. This represented an increase of over Rs 800 million in General Insurance over 2006 and gave Ceylinco Insurance a 37.1 percent share of the General Insurance Market.

The company's Life Insurance Division Ceylinco Life grew by an impressive 20 percent in the year reviewed to achieve premium income of Rs 6.8 billion, an increase of Rs 1.1 billion over the previous year. “This performance enabled the division to increase its share of the Life Insurance market to 34 per cent according to available industry figures,” the company said.

Contributing to the record profit were several new strategies adopted by the company in the period under review. Commenting on the General Division's performance, its Chief Executive Director Ajith Gunawardena said: "We performed beyond expectations in 2007 in terms of market share.

We believe that the innovation and courage embodied in the revolutionary changes Ceylinco Insurance introduced in the year under review were catalytic in generating unprecedented trust in insurance, and contributed to our success."

He said that despite the eruption of intense competition in the Motor Insurance segment, Ceylinco Insurance had a 41.2 percent share of that market in 2007, while in Non-Motor the company accounted for a 34.5 percent chunk of the entire market.

Ceylinco Life Chief Executive Director R. Renganathan said the Life Division had sold 165,796 new policies in the year under review, achieving an average of more than 13,800 new policies a month. Its Life Fund grew by 21 percent to reach Rs 16.83 billionas at December 31, 2007, following a transfer of more than Rs 2.9 billion in the year. Investments increased by 14 percent to Rs 14.8 billion, while assets grew by 19 percent to Rs 19.38 billion, he said.

"These are creditable results in any circumstances," Renganathan said.