S. Korean insurers earnings rise in H1 ’24

South Korean insurance companies reported higher combined net income in the first half of 2024. Non-life insurers saw a double-digit earnings increase, while life insurers experienced a decline, said the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.

The preliminary net income for 22 life insurers and 31 non-life insurers totalled 9.36 trillion won ($7 billion) in the first six months of the year, marking a 2.8 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Net income for life insurers dropped by 9.4 per cent year-on-year to 3.59 trillion won ($2.7 billion) due to reduced investment income, impacted by losses from the valuation of financial assets.

Conversely, non-life insurers experienced a 12.2 per cent increase in net profit, reaching 5.77 trillion won ($4.3 billion), driven by higher sales of insurance products and lower liabilities for incurred claims.

Premium income for life insurance companies rose by 3.5 per cent to 54.4738 trillion won. Protection and savings plans increased by 13.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent, the report showed.

Despite the increase in overall net income, the return on assets (ROA), fell by 0.04 percentage points to 1.52 per cent in the first half. However, return on equity (ROE) improved, rising by 0.72 percentage points to 11.79 per cent.

Attribution: Financial Supervisory Service report

Subediting: M. S. Salama