Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) on Wednesday reported a record profit for last year, despite being barred from selling investment-linked policies as of September.
Net profit last year grew 28 percent year-on-year to NT$33.9 billion (US$1.12 billion), thanks to stable growth of interest income and high capital gains from investments in stocks and bonds, the insurer said in a statement.
Earnings per share were NT$2.81, up from NT$2.35 the previous year, it said.
The company’s financial statement showed that investment gains advanced 10.95 percent annually to NT$182.23 billion, boosted by a 5 percent increase in interest income to NT$132.62 billion and a 50 percent hike in realized gains to NT$38.91 billion.
Gains from real-estate investments fell 11 percent to NT$3.22 billion, while net foreign-exchange losses were NT$42.59 billion, compared with net foreign-exchange gains of NT$57 billion in 2018, company data showed.
Nan Shan’s compensations and payments to policyholders totaled NT$313 billion, up 22 percent from the previous year, while commission fees to salespersons totaled NT$19.83 billion, down 2 percent, data showed.
First-year premiums (FYPs) retreated for the first time in three years — down 16 percent to NT$167.1 billion — as Nan Shan halted sales of investment-linked policies due to a Financial Supervisory Commission ban over an information technology system malfunction, data showed.
Nan Shan, which had the second-highest for FYP income among its peers in 2018, was third last year, behind Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) with NT$206.3 billion and Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) with NT$201.1 billion, data showed.
Nan Shan last year ranked first in sales of accident and health policies, spillover insurance products and long-term care insurance, with its market share at 18 percent, 46 percent and 88 percent respectively.
The company’s total assets expanded 11 percent to NT$4.9 trillion and its net worth jumped 163 percent to NT$368.1 billion due to booming global financial markets last year, it said.
While Nan Shan said it would continue to provide new products to satisfy consumers’ protection and money management needs, the sector’s growth prospects have been dented by the COVID-19 pandemic, volatility on global markets and an economic slowdown.
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