Ceylinco Insurance profits top Rs. 1 billion in 2007

Ceylinco Insurance has created history once again, becoming the first listed insurance company in Sri Lanka to record an after tax profit of over Rs. 1 billion, a feat it achieved in the year ending December 31, 2007.

The company has also 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 December 31, 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 robust 37.1 per cent share of the General Insurance Market.

The company's Life Insurance Division, Ceylinco Life grew by an impressive 20 per cent 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.

Ceylinco Insurance also had its share value peak during last year, with the per share value reaching Rs 232 in March 2007.

This is the fourth successive year of industrywide leadership in both the Life and General segments for Ceylinco Insurance.

Contributing to this 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 disclosed that despite the eruption of intense competition in the Motor Insurance segment, Ceylinco Insurance had seized an unbeatable 41.2 per cent share of that market in 2007, while in Non-Motor the company accounted for a hefty 34.5 per cent chunk of the entire market. Profit for the 12 months reviewed exceeded Rs 1 billion, a growth of 24 per cent.

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 a noteworthy 21 per cent to reach Rs 16.83 billion as at December 31, 2007, following a transfer of more than Rs 2.9 billion in the year. Investments increased by 14 per cent to Rs 14.8 billion, while assets grew by 19 per cent to Rs 19.38 billion, he said.

"These are creditable results in any circumstances," Renganathan said. "Ceylinco Life's market share, computed on the basis of premium income, continues to grow, and the gap between Ceylinco Life and its closest competitor has widened further, despite the tough market conditions that prevailed in the year concluded."

He attributed the company's success to a combination of its efforts in 2007 to push the penetration of life insurance beyond the 10 per cent level and the resultant high profile media and interactive campaigns, the spectacular Ceylinco Life Family Sawari promotions, and the continued focus on innovative and market-responsive new products.