Janashakthi Insurance Plc records impressive 1Q

Janashakathi Insura-nce Plc consolidated profits dropped from Rs. 155.7 million down to Rs. 106.4 million during the quarter ended 31 March 2015 (1Q15).

The group’s 1Q decline in profitability came in the wake of structural reforms to the company which had set up a new business entity known as Janashakthi General Insurance Ltd in line with regulatory requirements.

“The drop in profit was mainly due to the market to market loss of Rs. 71 million accounted during the period under review. However the subsequent bullish run of stock market enabled the company recover from this position. We are confident of improved performance in the future,” 

The new venture which commenced operations from 1 January 2015 handles non-life insurance business while parent company Janashakthi Insurance Plc functions as a holding company that engages in the life insurance business.

Commenting on the performance for the first quarter of 2015, Janashakthi Insurance CEO, Jude Fernando said: “At the end of first quarter Janashakthi delivered a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs.2.5 billion adding nearly Rs. 300 million to GWP against the first quarter of 2014. This is a healthy start for the company and we hope to continue on this growth momentum,” Janashakthi Insurance PLC Managing Director, Prakash Schaffter explained.

The GWP of Janashakthi General Insurance Ltd, (the Non-Life Insurance segment) stood at Rs.1.9 billion compared to Rs.1.7 billion in the previous year, reflecting an overall growth of 12.0% Year-on-Year (YoY). 

Changes made within the life Insurance segment in 2014, was reported to have shown positive results as evidenced by the Life insurance business which recorded a GWP of Rs. 605 million, growing the portfolio by 17.8% YoY during 1Q15

In addition, the company managed to pay out Rs.1.1 billion in claims as at 1Q15 while total assets of the company crossed Rs.21.1 billion, an impressive achievement given prevailing market conditions as at end of the first quarter 2015. 

The group had worked to build its brand equity during the period under review by driving product innovation as evidenced by the launch of the ‘Easy Claim’ – a product that allows customers to withdraw claim payments from an ATM without delay - in March 2015, which had helped to boost its brand awareness and build confidence among its clientele.  

During the same period, Janashakthi also rolled up several CSR projects such as a road safety project initiated in Nuwara Eliya along with an island-wide road safety messaging project.