Insurance firms diverge on dividend distribution

Companies have different views on remuneration

“After studying leading companies worldwide, ABIC found that issuing dividends in shares was a trend in developed countries.”

Nguyen Tien Hai

HANOI: During this year’s shareholders’ meeting season, several insurance companies opted to pay dividends at a rate of 10% or higher but there were still others that chose not to distribute dividends.

After generating positive profits from their insurance activities in 2023, BIDV Insurance Corp decided to distribute dividends, setting it at 15% and maintaining this level for 2024.

In 2023, BIDV Insurance exceeded the consolidated pre-tax profit plan by over 19.6%, reaching 574 billion dong and achieved a consolidated after-tax profit of 449.8 billion dong.

Consequently, the company maintained its position among the top three non-life insurance enterprises in terms of profitability ratio.

Tran Hoai An, the general director of BIDV Insurance, announced that the dividends for 2023 would be paid in cash in 2024, while dividends for 2024 would be paid in 2025.

The form of payment, whether in cash or shares, would depend on the actual business results in 2024 and would be subject to approval at the 2025 shareholders’ meeting.

Regarding the 2024 business plan, the shareholders’ meeting approved the objective of achieving a consolidated pre-tax profit of 600 billion dong.

As for Bao Minh Joint Stock Co, the board of directors planned to propose a dividend payment plan of 15% for 2023, with 5% in cash and 10% in shares.

Cash dividends were scheduled to be paid in the second quarter of 2024.

Petrolimex Insurance Joint Stock Co (PGI) maintained the same dividend rate as in 2022, which was 12% in cash. In 2023, PGI was expected to achieve a pre-tax profit of 283.6 billion dong, surpassing the plan by 10.9% and increasing by 12.3% compared to 2022.

Military Insurance Company (MIG) decided to distribute dividends at a rate of 10% in cash for 2023. Despite a 10% decrease in original insurance premium revenue, MIG’S pre-tax profit reached 352 billion dong, indicating a 76% increase compared to 2022, thanks to elevated revenue from financial activities.

Meanwhile, Vietnam National Reinsurance Corp planned to distribute dividends at a rate of 20% for 2023, with 10% in cash and 10% in stocks.

Agriculture Bank Insurance Joint-stock Corporation (ABIC) paid dividends at a rate of 51.34% for 2023, surpassing the initial plan of 20%, with 41.34% in stocks and 10% in cash.

Nguyen Tien Hai, the chairman of the board of directors of ABIC, explained that after studying leading companies worldwide, ABIC found that issuing dividends in shares was a trend in developed countries. Transitioning from cash dividends to shares would enhance the business’s asset value and financial capacity, while cash dividends would have the opposite effect, diminishing financial capacity.

Postal Insurance Joint Stock Corp (PTI) decided not to distribute dividends in 2024 due to reduced revenue and profit plans compared to the performance levels in 2023.

Although PTI was projected to achieve an after-tax profit of over 252 billion dong in 2023, the loss of 347.4 billion in 2022 prevented dividend distribution.

According to PTI leaders’ assessment, organisational reforms and system rearrangements since 2022 would lead to improved business results in 2023, including significantly decreased insurance business costs.

The total cost of insurance business operations in 2023 was 4.5 trillion dong, reflecting a 14.68% reduction equivalent to 786 billion dong compared to 2022.

Aviation Insurance Joint Stock Corp (VNI), with a modest profit of 24.6 billion dong achieved in 2023, decided not to distribute dividends to retain capital for business operations.

VNI has refrained from paying dividends for seven consecutive years, starting from 2017 till now.