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AIA Insurance Lanka Plc yesterday reported strong financial results for 2016.
Consolidated revenue grew by 20% to Rs. 14,633 million during the financial year 2016, from the figure reported for financial year 2015, driven by an increase in premium and investment income.
Gross Written Premium (GWP) of the life insurance business grew by 20% to a record Rs. 10,104 million, driven by growth in regular premium business and a favourable shift in premium mode mix. This is the first time the GWP of AIA’s life business has crossed the Rs. 10,000 million mark.
Conventional life business GWP grew by 26%, with notable growth from both the agency and bancassurance channels.
Investment income increased by 23%, driven by a prudent investment strategy.
Consolidated profit after tax increased by 68% from Rs. 303 million reported in 2015 to Rs. 511 million in 2016. The consolidated profit after tax for the financial years 2016 and 2015 includes the surplus of the life insurance business based on the actuarial valuations for the respective years.
AIA Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Pankaj Banerjee said: “2016 saw us reach a key milestone in our company’s journey as we rolled out the second phase of our Premier Agency strategy based on quality recruitment, premier training and a specific focus on digitisation. Also, I am delighted to report that the bancassurance channel has also delivered impressive growth. We place significant emphasis on investing in and upgrading our digital applications to enhance ease-of-doing business and customer experience.
AIA Sri Lanka’s sustained profitable growth is a true representation of its dedicated, committed and focused employees, wealth planners of our agency channel and Bancassurance Executives.”
AIA Sri Lanka Chairman William Lisle stated: “I am delighted to see the growth and progress made by AIA Sri Lanka over the past year. We will continue to focus on executing our strategy for making steady progress towards our goal of becoming the preeminent life insurer in Sri Lanka.”
AIA Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries (collectively AIA or the group) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, a 97% subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49% joint venture in India and representative offices in Myanmar and Cambodia.
The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of $185 billion as of 30 November 2016.
AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans.
The group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 30 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.
AIA Group acquired the business now known as AIA Insurance Lanka Plc (AIA Sri Lanka) in December 2012. AIA Sri Lanka is a top three life insurer measured in terms of gross written premiums.