Ceylinco Life’s 9-month income up 14% to Rs. 26 b

Chairman R. Renganathan  and Managing Director CEO Thushara Ranasinghe  

• Premium income improves by 13.8% to Rs. 15.5 b
• Investment and other income grows by 14.3% to Rs. 10.8 b
• Net claims and benefits to policyholders up by 12.8% to Rs. 9.1 b

Sri Lanka’s life insurance market leader Ceylinco Life has posted consolidated income of Rs. 26 billion for the nine months ending 30 September, achieving noteworthy top line growth of 14% in a period dominated by adverse conditions for business.

Gross Written Premium income for the period grew by 13.8% to Rs. 15.5 billion, while investment and other income increased by 14.3% to Rs. 10.8 billion, the Company reports.

Ceylinco Life transferred Rs. 6.7 billion to its life fund for the period under review, enlarging the life fund to Rs. 103.6 billion as at 30 September and transferred Rs. 2.9 billion to the shareholders’ fund in respect of the nine months, increasing the shareholder fund to Rs. 35.8 billion at the end of the third quarter.

The Company said it paid Rs. 9.1 billion in net claims and benefits to policyholders for the period, an increase of 12.8% over the corresponding nine months of the previous year.

Ceylinco Life reported profit of Rs. 5.29 billion before tax and Rs. 4.18 billion after tax for the nine months, recording declines of 8.4% and 6.7% respectively, on account of a lower transfer of Rs. 2.9 billion to shareholder profits as against Rs. 3.3 billion for the first nine months of 2019.

“Our results reflect Ceylinco Life’s ability to maintain its momentum in terms of volumes even in difficult times, as well as the resilience of the Company’s investment strategies,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO Thushara Ranasinghe commented. 

“A decline in profits was anticipated and factored in, as a consequence of the need to make provisions for the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business. We remain confident that our business model will generate equitable returns for policyholders and shareholders alike, while expanding the footprint of life insurance in the market,” he added.

Total assets of Ceylinco Life grew by Rs. 27.5 billion or 20.7% since 31 December 2019 to Rs. 160.7 billion as at 30 September, while the Company’s investment portfolio increased by Rs. 27.4 billion or 23.5% over the nine months to Rs. 144.3 billion at the end of the third quarter of the year. The Company’s net-assets-value-per-share stood at Rs. 716.08 as at 30 September, up by Rs. 86.23 or 13.6% year-on-year (YOY).

Sri Lanka’s leading life insurer for more than half of the 32 years it has been in existence and certified as a ‘Great Workplace’ in Sri Lanka by Great Place to Work, Ceylinco Life was ranked the Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand in Sri Lanka by Brand Finance this year and declared the ‘Peoples Life Insurance Service Provider of the Year’ for the 14th consecutive year at the 2020 SLIM-Nielsen Peoples Awards. 

The Company was ranked among the ’10 Most Admired Companies’ in the country by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) in 2019 and in the same year was named the ‘Best Life Insurer in Sri Lanka’ for the sixth consecutive year by World Finance and ranked sixth overall in the Business Today ranking of the country’s top 30 companies. 

Ceylinco Life has close to a million lives covered by active policies and is acknowledged as a benchmark in the local insurance sector for innovation, product research and development, customer service, professional development and corporate social responsibility.