Ceylinco Life reports 6-month net income of Rs. 14.7 billion

 Ceylinco Life Chairman R. Renganathan (left) and Managing Director/CEO Thushara Ranasinghe

• Premium income up 5.7% to Rs. 8.8 billion
• Investment income grows by 16% to Rs. 5.9 billion
• Benefits and claims paid grow by 11.7% to Rs. 5 billion
• PBT up by 13.55% to Rs. 3.8 billion

Ceylinco Life has reported net income of Rs. 14.7 billion for the first half of 2019, an increase of 10.55% over the corresponding period of last year as a result of investments yielding noteworthy returns and premium income recording equitable growth.

In its 16th consecutive year of market leadership, the Company’s premium income for the six months ending 30 June 2019 improved by 5.72% to Rs. 8.8 billion while investment income for the period grew by 16.1% to Rs. 5.9 billion.

Profit before tax increased by a healthy 13.55% to Rs. 3.8 billion, but net profit declined by 5.37% to Rs. 2.9 billion, largely as a result of income tax expense more than tripling, from Rs 303 million for the first half of 2018 to Rs. 918.4 million for the six months under review, consequent to the new tax law that came into effect from 1 April 2018, the Company said.

“While the increase in our effective tax rate takes a big bite out of profits, our results demonstrate the solid operational gains the Company continues to make even in a period of depressed market sentiment,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director Thushara Ranasinghe said. “We attribute this to the confidence of customers in the inherent strength and stability of Ceylinco Life, and our unwavering adherence to our business fundamentals and core values despite the pressures of the business environment.”

Total assets of Ceylinco Life increased by Rs. 18.8 billion or 15.9% since 31 December 2018 to Rs. 136.9 billion as at 30 June 2019, while the Company’s Life Fund grew by Rs. 2.8 billion or 3.2% over the six months to Rs. 90.9 billion at the end of the first half of the year.

The Company paid out Rs. 5 billion as net claims and benefits in the six months reviewed, an increase of 11.7% over the Rs. 4.5 billion paid in the corresponding period of 2018.

Ceylinco Life ended 2018 with assets of Rs 118 billion, total income of Rs. 28.7 billion, premium income of Rs. 17.8 billion, a Life Fund of Rs. 88.05 billion, an investment portfolio with a value in excess of Rs. 103.7 billion and net profit of Rs. 5.79 billion.

Adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand’ by Brand Finance in 2019 and named the ‘Best Life Insurer’ in 2018 for the fifth consecutive year by World Finance, Ceylinco Life has been declared the most popular life insurance company in the country for 13 consecutive years by SLIM-Nielsen. 

The market leader in Sri Lanka’s life insurance industry for 15 of the 31 years it had been in operation by end 2018, the Company has close to a million lives covered by active policies and is acknowledged as a benchmark in the local insurance industry for innovation, product research and development, customer service, professional development and corporate social responsibility.