AAI shares stable

Hiran H.Senewiratne

Asian Alliance Insurance (AAI) was able to maintain a stable position of its shares in the stock market despite the instability in the external and internal environment, its Chief Executive Officer Ramal Jayasinghe said.

"Our share prices are stable in the market, while earnings have also gone up in the recent past with these current uncertainties," Jayasinghe told the Daily News Business.

He said the benchmarks set for the company were met with and was exceeded to another year of exceptional performance. Confidence and investor interest in the company saw the growth of its share price reach phenomenal levels of three times its price over the last year.

With all developments, the profitability of the company grew by 63 per cent in 2007 recording a profit of Rs 113 million profit after tax which is the first time the company achieved the Rs 100 million mark (before and after tax), he said.

He said that the Gross Written Premium achieved from both Life and Non Life businesses grew by 9 per cent to reach Rs 1.274 billion. Life Insurance continues to be the major contributor to the company's performance by recording a 19 per cent growth in revenue of the company.

He said that Non Life continues to be the major contributor to the Company's performance, which has directly related to the economy of the country. "Therefore, we need the industry to be taken to the next level with more innovative insurance channels and products to face global challenges and its needs," he said.

Jayasinghe said that since the local export sector is now heading to a challenge with external and internal pressure, they have to be more innovative to make this lifeline to be vibrant and efficient to promote it.

He said everybody should recognise change as Sri Lanka is in an advantageous position and could be positioned as the service hub in the region where the export sector is concerned. Export is a symbol of national pride and it needs to be given the prime position to keep the country's economy going.

"We are a company that focuses on value driven and always focus on quality which has given a healthy bottom line. This has enabled the company to command a six percent market share despite all odds and tribulations in this competitive business," he said.