Last Year Insurance Companies' Overseas Branch Net Profit $69.9 Million... 208% Increase YoY

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Domestic insurance companies recorded a net profit of 69.9 million dollars (80.9 billion KRW) from their overseas branches last year. This represents a 207.9% increase compared to the previous year (22.7 million dollars).

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced this on the 21st through the '2019 Overseas Branch Performance of Insurance Companies' report.

The profit of 71.9 million dollars in the insurance business was due to improved earnings in the Asia region and a decrease in losses by non-life insurers. However, the investment business turned to a loss of 2 million dollars.

As of the end of last year, the total assets of insurance companies' overseas branches amounted to 5.29 billion dollars (6.1 trillion KRW), an increase of 700 million dollars (15.2%) compared to the end of the previous year.

Liabilities stood at 3.09 billion dollars, rising by 470 million dollars (18.1%) due to increased reserves for liabilities and unpaid insurance claims following the growth in held contracts.

Capital was 2.2 billion dollars, up 220 million dollars (11.4%) from the previous year-end, driven by profit realization from active operations and additional capital injections in some branches.

As of the end of last year, a total of 10 insurance companies have expanded into 11 countries, operating 34 overseas branches.

There are 21 branches in the Asia region, 9 in the United States, 3 in the United Kingdom, and 1 in Switzerland. The closure of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's Brazil branch reduced the number by one compared to the previous year-end.

Although the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on overseas branch operations was not significant through the first quarter of this year, the FSS expects sales to decline if the situation prolongs.

An FSS official stated, "We plan to strengthen continuous monitoring of key risk factors such as sales trends and loss ratio management of overseas branches in COVID-19 affected areas."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.