Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance(000810) posted more than 1.37 trillion won in net profit in the first half of this year, marking its best first-half performance. The improvement was driven by better profitability in its core insurance business and a sharp increase in investment gains.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance said on the 13th that first-half net profit on a consolidation basis was 1.374 trillion won, up 10.1% from a year earlier. That is the highest first-half figure on record. Second-quarter net profit rose 16.3% on-year to 738.7 billion won. First-half net profit attributable to owners of the parent increased 10.2% to 1.372 trillion won.
First-half sales were 6.4614 trillion won, down 5.8% from a year earlier. In contrast, insurance profit rose 10.9% to 1.1145 trillion won, helped by improved profitability in long-term and general insurance and a recovery in auto insurance profit and loss.
The contractual service margin (CSM) of long-term insurance continued to increase. CSM at the end of the first half was 14.5947 trillion won, up 427.1 billion won from the end of last year. The CSM multiple improved by 1.1 times from a year earlier to 13.9 times.
General insurance totaled 187.5 billion won, up 75.6% from a year earlier, backed by fewer large accidents and management of low-revenue areas. Auto insurance posted a surplus of 29.6 billion won in the second quarter. Thanks to profit and loss management and a decline in accident rates due to reduced driving, both second-quarter and first-half cumulative profit and loss returned to surplus.
The investment sector also supported the improved results. First-half investment profit and loss was 788 billion won, up 22% from the same period last year. Stable interest income was supplemented by valuation gains from a buoyant stock market. The first-half investment return was 3.5%, and investment profit based on assets under management rose 16.3% to 1.7498 trillion won.