Ceylinco Insurance ups consolidated profit by 29% to Rs. 4.7 b

• Insurance sector profit grows by 54.5 %

Marking another remarkable year, Ceylinco Insurance Plc, the holding company, recorded a mammoth consolidated after tax profit of Rs. 4.7 billion for the year ended 31 December 2016 while the profit before tax stood at an exceptional Rs. 5.9 billion. 

Contributing to this remarkable performance, Ceylinco General Insurance and Ceylinco Life Insurance recorded profits after tax of Rs. 1.3 billion and Rs. 2.9 billion respectively. 

Ceylinco Insurance Plc Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Ajith Gunawardena, commenting on the impressive performance, said: “As the clear market dominator, and consolidating its leadership position further for the 13th consecutive year, Ceylinco Insurance in 2016 remained far ahead of the competition. Thus the insurance sector managed to return an impressive premium income of Rs. 31.1 billion in 2016, with Ceylinco General Insurance recording Rs. 16.1 billion, marking a growth of 18.9 %, an increase of over Rs. 2.5 billion year-on-year, just as Ceylinco Life Insurance registered a premium income of Rs. 15 billion, marking a growth of 11.7 %, an increase of Rs. 1.5 billion. 

Referring to its performance, Ceylinco Life Insurance Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer R. Renganathan opined: “In 2016 we embarked on a huge market expansion program once again. Not only Ceylinco Life but the entire life insurance industry benefited through this. The year 2016 marks a 13-year period of unbroken market leadership for Ceylinco Life Insurance in the long-term insurance segment. This is an incredible achievement given the context of ever-increasing competition and the short-sighted tactics employed by smaller players in the market in a bid to achieve short-term growth.”

Ceylinco General Insurance Managing Director Patrick Alwis, commenting on the remarkable performance of Ceylinco General Insurance, said: “The premium income of our flagship brand Ceylinco VIP alone stood at a staggering Rs. 9.9 billion, with Non-Motor Insurance contributing an impressive Rs. 6.2 billion, allowing the total premium income of Ceylinco General Insurance to record yet another fantastic year. Ceylinco General Insurance has maintained its unassailable lead. This is in the midst of stiff competition. What we have achieved in 2016 is all the more important as the industry is not a level playing field, with government entities still enjoying distinct advantages. Despite such challenges, we have worked hard and worked together and we have exceeded expectations once again. 

“Ceylinco General Insurance paid claims amounting to Rs. 10.4 billion during 2016. The sharp increase in claim settlement is a result of the large number of claims we paid during the floods in May 2016. Claims were paid within a period of 14 days, enabling our customers to return to normalcy in the fastest possible time. Some customers had only insured their vehicles but not their homes while some had insured their shops but not their houses. However, Ceylinco General Insurance, looking at the situation from a humane angle, decided to pay a percentage to compensate the damages to their homes as well.” 

Ceylinco General Insurance remains committed to ensuring growth and better meeting emerging opportunities, with the largest branch network in the island, surpassing 440 branches and sales outlets, providing General Insurance solutions to millions of Sri Lankans. 

During the year under review, the General Division of Ceylinco Insurance opened 31 new VIP Counters, adding further convenience and providing greater accessibility to even more potential customers throughout our nation. Similarly, Ceylinco Life operates a network of over 260 branches, assuring the best possible protection to policyholders and their loved ones.  

As witnessed over two and half decades, both Ceylinco General Insurance and Ceylinco Life have led the way with amazing new innovations and intuitively dynamic solutions, constantly setting the benchmark for the competition to follow, while simultaneously ensuring that millions of Sri Lankans enjoy the security of insurance. Just as the first ‘On The Spot’ claim settlement revolutionised the local insurance arena, Ceylinco Insurance has always strived to deliver services that exceed customer expectations.

In 2016, Ceylinco General Insurance added yet another unique benefit to its long list of value additions of Ceylinco VIP - if a brand new or an unregistered vehicle is condemned within two years of purchase, Ceylinco General Insurance will replace a vehicle of similar make and model irrespective of the price escalation. 

Standard practice is to compensate the amount equivalent to the market rate or the value of the insured vehicle. But in the event of buying a new vehicle, if not for this benefit of ours, customers will have to put in more money due to the depreciation of the vehicle once it is registered and subsequent price increases of brand new or reconditioned vehicles. 

For 11 consecutive years, Ceylinco Insurance has also enjoyed the distinct honour of being voted for by the people as The People’s Insurance Company, while once again Ceylinco Insurance was honoured to be the highest-ranked insurance company according to LMD and the only insurance company among the Top 25 Companies in Sri Lanka for 2015/16 as announced by Business Today in November 2016.