AIA will not be heavily impacted by MyCC penalty
We are probably one of the smallest players, so the impact is small. Anusha Thavarajah, AIA chief executive officer
KUALA LUMPUR: AIA Bhd, a member of the General Insurance Association of Malaysia which has been imposed a financial penalty by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC), said the impact on the company will be minimal.
Chief executive officer Anusha Thavarajah said AIA had been cooperating with the MyCC to resolve the ‘misunderstanding’ and she was confident the right resolution would be announced by the commission.
“We are one of the companies involved.
“However, it is a small part of our business.
“We are probably one of the smallest players, so the impact is small,” she told a press conference to announce the company’s 2016 financial results yesterday.
MyCC, had on Feb 28, 2017 issued a proposed decision and a RM213.4 million penalty on PIAM and its 22 members for an anti-competitive agreement that was reached with the Federation of Automobile Workshop Owners Association of Malaysia, involving the hourly rates and spare part prices chargeable for commonly-used vehicles, including Proton, Perodua, Naza, Nissan, Toyota and Honda.
It was reported that Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Bhd, another local insurer involved, announced that it would have a share of the RM27.48 million proposed penalty.
Meanwhile, PIAM and Bank Negara Malaysia have each came out with their statements saying that the agreement was put in place in response to a clear directive from the central bank, to address disputes between workshops and general insurance companies over insurance claim payments for motor repairs.
Moving forward, Anusha said AIA, which had recently established a new branch in Kota Kinabalu, aimed to set up another three branches in Malaysia this year, namely, in Seri Manjung, Ipoh and Penang.
It currently has more than 40 branches, nationwide.
“We are committed to reach out as far as we can in Malaysia and considering that only 56 per cent of the population are insured, there still remains a significant section of Malaysians who are either not insured or under-insured,” she added.
On AIA’s performance for the financial year ended Nov 30, 2016, the company recorded its fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth on the back of a 23 per cent increase in the value of new business (VONB) to RM815 million.
The company’s annualised new premium grew 25 per cent to RM1.4 billion while operating profit after tax rose six per cent to more than RM1.1 billion.
Family Takaful business recorded a 47 per cent increase in annualised new contributions while VONB for Partnership Distribution and Corporate Solutions grew 18 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. — Bernama