'Eldest Brother' Samsung Life's Strong Performance... 3Q Net Profit 475.6 Billion KRW, Up 128% YoY

Impact of Expanding Sales of Guaranteed Products
CSM and K-ICS Ratios Both at Industry's Highest Level

Samsung Life Insurance, regarded as the 'eldest brother' in the insurance industry, showed solid net profit growth in the third quarter of this year. This reflected the results of focusing on sales of protection products such as health insurance. The new accounting standard (IFRS17) guideline, introduced by authorities to prevent earnings inflation, was applied from the third quarter, leading to a reduction in inflated earnings for many insurers, yet Samsung Life posted strong results.

Samsung Life announced on the 14th that its net profit attributable to controlling shareholders in the third quarter reached 475.6 billion KRW, a 127.7% increase compared to the same period last year. The cumulative net profit also reached 1.4497 trillion KRW, up 72.7% from the same period last year. Samsung Life explained, "The increase in insurance segment profits was due to an increase in new contracts centered on protection products."

Samsung Life also complied with the newly introduced profitability indicator under IFRS17, the Contractual Service Margin (CSM). CSM is a concept that amortizes and recognizes the profit generated from insurance contracts annually, reflecting the insurer's future profits. Samsung Life's new contract CSM for the third quarter was 956.4 billion KRW, a 12.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, the proportion of health product new contract CSM expanded to 40%, which was a key factor. The cumulative CSM at the end of the third quarter was 11.7 trillion KRW, an 8.9% increase from the end of last year, maintaining the highest level in the life insurance industry.

The Annualized Premium Equivalent (APE), a concept that converts insurance premiums into annual payments on a one-year basis at the time of new contract signing, reached 758.7 billion KRW in the third quarter based on new contracts. This was an 8.2% increase compared to the third quarter of last year. The growth of protection products was also prominent. Protection product new contract APE was 611.3 billion KRW, a 33.4% increase during the same period. Samsung Life explained, "This is the result of maintaining competitiveness in the whole life insurance product market and expanding health insurance sales."

Meanwhile, as of the end of the third quarter, total assets were 297.1 trillion KRW, and the number of exclusive planners was 30,238. The Solvency Capital Requirement (K-ICS) ratio, which indicates capital soundness, is expected to remain at the industry's highest level of 215-220%.

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