Korea’s big 3 non-life insurers report solid earnings for first 9 months

[Provided by Maekyung Media Group]

South Korea’s major non-life insurers, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, and DB Insurance, reported solid earnings in the first nine months this year, with their net profits up more than 10 percent thanks to improving loss ratios in long-term and auto insurance.

Samsung Fire & Marine, the No.1 player in the industry, earned more than 1 trillion won ($743 million) in cumulative net profit for the first nine months, according to its regulatory filing on Thursday. The figure was up 1.0 percent from the same period of last year, driven by solid growth in both automobile and long-term insurance on an improvement in loss ratios, the ratio of losses to premiums earned.

Excluding last year’s special dividend payout by Samsung Electronics, this was a 13.6-percent growth from the same period of last year.

In the third quarter ended September, the insurer reported 282.7 billion won in net profit, up 1.6 percent from a year ago but off 17.1 percent from the previous quarter. Revenue grew 2.7 percent on year and 2.0 percent on quarter to 5.1 trillion won.

The company reported better-than-expected earnings despite massive damages to cars and properties from the record-breaking flood and Typhoon Hinnamnor in September that it had to cover.

Hyundai Marine & Fire posted 478.5 billion won in cumulative net profit for the first nine months of the year, up 23.4 percent from a year ago. Operating profit rose 23.1 percent on year to 702 billion won. But its third-quarter bottom line dropped 8.3 percent on year and 36.5 percent on quarter to 127.1 billion won.

DB Insurance posted 817 billion won in net profit from the January to September period, up 26.6 percent from a year ago. Its operating profit also rose 23.8 percent to 1.09 trillion won. For the quarter ended September, its bottom line fell 10 percent on quarter but increased 15.7 percent on year to 254.5 billion won.