Ceylinco Insurance posts Rs. 732m pre-tax profit

Ceylinco Insurance PLC recorded a pre-tax profit of Rs. 732 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.

During the year under review Ceylinco Insurance PLC made an operational profit of Rs. 1,149 million, before making provision for fall-in value of investments and writing off non-yielding investments, to the value of Rs. 416.8 million.

This move served to make the financial statements of the company more transparent, while expressing a clearer picture to shareholders.

Announcing the profit, Deputy Chairman of Ceylinco Insurance - General, Ajith Gunawardena, said; “What we have achieved in 2008 is remarkable, given the conditions that prevailed. We are very positive and confident that Ceylinco Insurance will be able to post even better results by the end of 2009. Our entire team is determined to achieve the desired results during this year, while staff morale is at a very high level. In fact, everyone is rallying round, giving a little bit more than their best.”

Deputy Chairman R. Renganathan said: “Our ability to outperform the industry’s average growth is evidence of the trust and confidence that Ceylinco Life has built up over the years.

This is an invaluable asset that we intend to nurture and build on in the years ahead. It is noteworthy that Ceylinco Life planned and executed several spectacular promotions in the year reviewed, and paid Rs 1.4 billion in bonuses, significantly exceeding policyholder expectations.”

In 2008, Ceylinco Insurance PLC recorded a consolidated gross premium income of Rs. 20,087 million, with the General Division contributing Rs. 11,287 million and the Life Division accounting for Rs. 8,257 million. Meanwhile, premium income from the Maldives operation accounted for Rs. 543 million.

The total investments of the company, including both the Life and General Divisions exceeded Rs. 23,100 million, out of which Rs. 9,591 million or essentially 42 percent, accounted for Government Securities, while another Rs. 7,302 million (or 32 percent), remained as deposits in licenced banks. Meanwhile, the total assets of the company grew by 25 percent over the previous year, and stood at Rs. 37,449 million, as at December 31, 2008.

During the year under scrutiny, the General Division sold over 320,000 new policies, bringing the total policies in force to over 1.4 million. Also in 2008, the General Division paid claims to the tune of Rs. 4,766 million.

The General Insurance solvency ratio stood at 142 percent, meaning that General Insurance admissible assets exceeded its liabilities by Rs. 2,461 million.

Net transfers to the Life Fund for the year was Rs. 4,735 million, thus increasing the Life Fund to Rs. 21,301 million, recording a remarkable growth of 26.5 percent. The Life Division meanwhile, sold over 188,000 new policies during the year, while Life solvency stood five times over the required solvency ratio. The total claim benefits disbursed by the Life Division in 2008 amounted to Rs. 2,113 million.