Samsung Life "No Change in Management Activities Even After Subsidiary Samsung Fire & Marine Integration" (Comprehensive)

Samsung Life Holds Conference Call on the 20th
"No Plans to Acquire Additional Shares of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance at This Time"

Samsung Life Insurance stated on the 20th that there will be no changes in overall management activities even if Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is incorporated as a subsidiary.

Lee Wan-sam, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Samsung Life Insurance, said during a conference call after the earnings announcement, "There will be no changes in overall management activities such as profit and loss or capital ratios due to the incorporation of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance as a subsidiary," adding, "At this time, we are not considering acquiring additional shares."

Samsung Life Insurance applied for approval from the Financial Services Commission on the 13th to incorporate Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance as a subsidiary. This was because at the end of last month, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance announced a plan to cancel treasury shares following value-up (corporate value enhancement), which could increase the shares held by Samsung Life Insurance in the future. Samsung Life Insurance is pursuing the option of incorporating Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance as a subsidiary rather than selling its shares. The CFO explained, "Both companies represent the life insurance and non-life insurance industries and continue to engage in healthy competition," adding, "We are currently creating synergies within the legally permissible scope, such as cross-selling through agents and joint investments in domestic and overseas alternative assets."

Samsung Life Insurance also mentioned that the gains from the sale of Samsung Electronics shares will be used as dividend resources. Recently, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance disposed of Samsung Electronics shares worth 280 billion KRW through a block deal (large volume trading outside regular hours).

Samsung Life Insurance announced that its net profit for last year reached 2.1068 trillion KRW, an increase of about 11.2% compared to the previous year (1.8953 trillion KRW). Investment gains improved significantly year-on-year due to increased dividend income and reduced interest expenses on liabilities caused by falling interest rates.

The new contract insurance contract margin (CSM) secured 3.3 trillion KRW. Despite falling interest rates and intensified business competition, this was the result of expanding new contract volumes and broadening the portfolio centered on health products compared to the previous year. The proportion of health products in the new contract CSM recorded 58%, an increase of 21 percentage points from the previous year. The retained CSM secured 12.9 trillion KRW, a net increase of 700 billion KRW compared to the beginning of the year, through new contract CSM performance and efficiency management.

The number of exclusive agents was counted at 37,313, an increase of more than 5,570 compared to the beginning of the year.

A Samsung Life Insurance official said, "Based on fundamental improvements and profit growth, we decided on a dividend of 4,500 KRW per share, the highest ever," adding, "We will gradually raise the medium-term shareholder return ratio target to 50%."

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