Insular Life reports 179% income growth to R4.9 B in 2016

Insular Life Assurance Co. said that its consolidated net income nearly tripled last year due to higher gains from sale of shares of stocks and properties, investment income as well as earnings of its associates.

In a statement, Nina D. Aguas, Insular Life chief executive said yesterday that the Filipino-owned life insurance firm saw its consolidated profits rose by 179 percent to R4.9 billion last year.

Aguas said that 2016 was “a record-breaking year” in terms of revenues, net income, assets, and net worth.

The company’s consolidated revenues reached R25 billion, up by 25 percent, while its total assets increased by 22 percent to R129 billion from R106 billion a year ago.

Consolidated member’s equity or net worth also rose by 70 percent to R40.3 billion from R23.7 billion in 2015. The increase in member’s equity can be attributed to the gains in the market value of its equity holdings and higher net income.

“Last year was our best year so far in terms of reinforcing our stability and financial strength. We are number two among 30 life insurance companies in terms of net income and net worth. And in terms of assets, we are number three,” Aguas said.

The insurer’s premium income, however, was slightly lower than the previous year.

“While we posted monthly increases in new business premium production for eight consecutive months and also increased its renewal premiums, we were not shielded from the volatile market conditions that caused a sharp drop in single premiums,” Aguas said.

As a result, Insular Life’s total premium income slightly fell by 3 percent to R12.3 billion, reflective of the industry decline of 3 percent.

“We were able to defend our number seven position based on total premium. Notwithstanding this, Insular Life’s equity funds that support our investmentlinked insurance products were the best-performing funds in 2016,” Aguas said. (CSL)