Sri Lanka’s life insurance business achieves growth

COLOMBO; Sri Lanka’s life insurance market leader Ceylinco Life has posted consolidated income of Rs 26 billion for the nine months ending Sept. 30, achieving noteworthy top line growth of 14 per cent in a period dominated by adverse conditions for business.

Gross written premium income for the period grew by 13.8 per cent to Rs 15.5 billion, while investment and other income increased by 14.3 per cent to Rs 10.8 billion, the company said in a report published in local daily The Island.

Ceylinco Life transferred Rs 6.7 billion to its life fund for the period under review, enlarging the life fund to Rs 103.6 billion as at Sept. 30 and transferred Rs 2.9 billion to the shareholders’ fund in respect of the nine months, increasing the shareholder fund to Rs 35.8 billion at the end of the third quarter.

The company said it paid Rs 9.1 billion in net claims and benefits to policyholders for the period, an increase of 12.8 per cent over the corresponding nine months of the previous year.

Ceylinco Life reported profit of Rs 5.29 billion before tax and Rs 4.18 billion after tax for the nine months, recording declines of 8.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, on account of a lower transfer of Rs 2.9 billion to shareholder profits as against Rs 3.3 billion for the first nine months of 2019.

“Our results reflect Ceylinco Life’s ability to maintain its momentum in terms of volumes even in difficult times, as well as the resilience of the company’s investment strategies,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO Thushara Ranasinghe commented. 

“A decline in profits was anticipated and factored in, as a consequence of the need to make provisions for the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business. We remain confident that our business model will generate equitable returns for policyholders and shareholders alike, while expanding the footprint of life insurance in the market.”