Insurance industry income down in Q3

MANILA, Philippines — The insurance industry saw its net income decline by nearly seven percent to P35 billion as of the end of third quarter last year amid a drop in the life segment.

Latest data released by the Insurance Commission (IC) showed that the net income of the industry went down by 6.67 percent to P35 billion from January to September 2022 compared to P37.5 billion in the same period in 2021.

Nonetheless, insurance density or average spending of an individual on insurance jumped by almost 50 percent to P2,525 from P1,704.

“The growth trend in insurance density attests to the growing confidence of the public in the financial protection that insurance provides,” IC commissioner Dennis Funa said.

“The growth inspires confidence as we continue to move forward amid the economic challenges posed by the pandemic,” he said.

Broken down, the life insurance segment registered a 12.67-percent decrease in net income to P26.1 billion from P29.88 billion in 2021.

This was largely due to the decline in total premium income, particularly in single premiums in variable life insurance products.

Investments also contracted by 4.77 percent to P1.46 trillion, while assets slipped by 3.3 percent to P1.54 trillion with seven out of the top 10 life insurance firms reporting a drop.

The IC said there was a measly 0.53-percent increase in benefit payments to P78.04 billion.

On the other hand, the non-life insurance segment’s net income improved almost 10 percent to P4.77 billion from P4.34 billion.

Net premiums written, fire insurance, motor car, accident, and aviation lines all posted improvements. Only the health insurance line declined during the period.

Investments for the non-life segment grew by 9.34 percent to P143.17 billion while assets climbed by 20 percent to P353.13 billion, mainly placed in debt securities in both government and private sector, time deposits, investment property, mutual funds, and real estate investment trusts, among others.

Further, the IC reported that mutual benefit associations (MBAs) increased their premiums by eight percent to P10.7 billion, while their expenses inched down by less than a percentage to P7.26 billion.

Overall, the segment widened its net surplus by 26 percent to P4.14 billion.

Combined, total assets of the three segments improved modestly to P2.03 trillion in the third quarter while total benefits paid were almost flat at P101.05 billion.

The third quarter insurance data came from submissions of 126 out of the 132 licensed insurers and MBAs.