Ceylinco Life records Rs 9.8 b premium income

Ceylinco Life has recorded an income of Rs 13.698 b and Gross Written Premium Income of Rs 9.816 b for the year ending December 31, 2011. The record premium income reported, which reflects a growth of 11.72 percent over 2010, giving Ceylinco Life a clear lead of Rs 2 b over the second largest life insurer in the country, increasing the margin between the leader and the rest of the field.

Within total income, Investment and Other Income grew 12.39 per cent to Rs 3.882 b the company has reported to the Colombo Stock Exchange. Ceylinco Life made a net transfer of Rs 6.3 b to its Life Fund for the 12 months reviewed, an increase of Rs 917 m or 16.9 percent over the previous year's transfer. As a result, the Life Fund grew by 19.9 percent to Rs 38.2 b as at December 31, 2011. Ceylinco Life Managing Director, R. Renganathan said that this record-breaking performance in rather non-conducive conditions had enabled the company to transfer Rs 700 m to shareholders from the profits made by the Life Fund, and maintain its solvency ratio at above 8 times the statutory requirement. "The figures tell the story," Renganathan said. "Ceylinco Life has always stuck to developing and marketing traditional life insurance products, because we believe that life insurance is about protecting policyholders and their loved ones against uncertainties of the future.

It is not our business to seek short term gains by investing our policyholders' funds in volatile instruments." He said growth had come from sales of new policies at an average of nearly 12,000 per month throughout 2011, and from the careful management of investments in the review period.

Total investments of Ceylinco Life grew by Rs 10.632 b or 36 percent to Rs 40 b at the end of 2011.

Ceylinco Life's investment portfolio comprised of Government Securities (32 per cent); Licensed Private Banks (24 percent); State Banks (21 per ent); Real Estate (12 percent); Corporate Debt (6 percent) and Others (5 percent) at the end of the year under review. Total Assets increased by Rs 11.291 b or 30.5 per cent to Rs 48.247 b at 31st December 2011.

The company's revaluation surplus (a computation every three years of the difference between the book value and market value of

assets) totalled Rs 1087 m. In the area of payments to policyholders, Ceylinco Life paid Rs 3 b in claims, maturing benefits and other benefits in the year ended December 31, 2011. Over 95 percent of intimated death claims were settled during the year, maintaining the company's record as the best in settlement of claims in Sri Lanka's life insurance sector.