S. Korean life insurers' net income up 7-fold in fiscal Q3

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- Net profits of South Korea's leading life insurers
grew nearly seven-fold in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 from a year earlier as
the companies climbed out of the worst economic slowdown in a decade, industry
sources said Thursday.
The combined net income of eight major life insurance companies including Samsung
Life Insurance Co. and Korea Life Insurance Co. came to 419.2 billion won (US$366
million) in the October-December period, compared with 61.6 billion won booked
the same period in 2008, according to the sources.
The firms tallied also include Kyobo Life Insurance Co., Mirae Asset Life
Insurance Co., Tong Yang Life Insurance Co., Kumho Life Insurance Co., Shinhan
Life Co. and Heungkuk Life. Life insurance firms' fiscal year begins April 1.
The brisk rebound came after the global economic rout in late 2008 sharply cut
life insurance earnings by driving policy holders to cancel contracts and keeping
new buyers away.
"The earnings were also helped by reductions in overseas investment losses as the
global economy emerged from the crisis," a life insurance company official said.
For the nine months ended Dec. 31, accumulated net profit by the eight life
insurance firms stood at 1.63 trillion won, up 126 percent from the same period
in the previous year.
Meanwhile, net earnings by the nation's nine leading non-life insurers increased
to 305.3 billion won in the fiscal third quarter, up 55.9 percent from a year
earlier, according to the sources. Their accumulated earnings for the nine months
to December were 953.6 billion won, 0.4 percent lower than 2008, they said.
The non-life insurers are Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Dongbu Insurance
Co., Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co., LIG Insurance Co., Meritz Fire & Marine
Insurance Co., Lotte Non-life Insurance Co., Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance
Co., Hanwha Non-life Insurance Co. and Green Non-life Insurance Co.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)