Hanwha Life Insurance appears to have improved third-quarter profitability on the back of business expansion at overseas subsidiaries.
Hanwha Life said on the 14th that on a consolidation basis, cumulative net profit for the third quarter of this year rose 5.8% from a year earlier to 768.9 billion won. Net profit for the third quarter alone surged 414.9% to 307.4 billion won.
Net profit also appears to have increased thanks to stable profit generation in Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Backed by business expansion through Indonesia's Nobu Bank, newly consolidated this year, and U.S. Velocity securities, consolidation net profit from overseas subsidiaries came to 49.1 billion won.
On a separate basis, third-quarter net profit reached 136.1 billion won. Although insurance profit declined due to factors such as differences between estimated and actual insurance claims arising from increased sales of health insurance and higher medical utilization seen across the industry, investment profit rose 23.8% year over year on expanded interest income from an increase in interest-bearing assets and strategic asset management.
Third-quarter new business APE (annualized premium equivalent) was about 1.006 trillion won. Of that, protection-type APE was 879 billion won, up 13% from a year earlier, continuing protection-led growth.
Third-quarter new business CSM (contractual service margin) rose 4.1% from a year earlier to 564.3 billion won. With the expansion of health insurance products and a profitability-focused portfolio, annual new business CSM of more than 2 trillion won is expected for three consecutive years—2023, 2024, and 2025.
Third-quarter in-force CSM was 9.0594 trillion won, up about 226.3 billion won from the previous quarter. Despite falling interest rates and intensifying competition, the health insurance profitability multiple improved to 16.4 times from 14.6 times in the previous quarter. Whole life insurance also saw its profitability multiple improve to around four times thanks to a portfolio focused on medium- to long-term premiums.
The K-ICS (capital adequacy) ratio, a measure of financial soundness, stood at 157%, maintaining a stable level thanks to solid inflows of new business CSM.
The number of financial planners under Hanwha Life's subsidiary-type GA expanded to 36,487, up 5,482 from the end of last year, sustaining an industry-leading channel competitiveness. The 13th-month settlement rate improved to 55.5% (+5.8 percentage points), and the 25th-month persistency rate improved to 79.6% (+15.8 percentage points), further strengthening organizational stability and sales efficiency.
Yoon Jong-guk, chief financial officer at Hanwha Life, said, "We will focus on enhancing long-term corporate value through quality growth centered on protection and maintaining financial soundness," adding, "Based on digital transformation such as AI-driven customer analysis and work automation, we will strengthen not only the core insurance business competitiveness but also our global competitiveness."