Allianz Lanka achieves industry’s highest growth in 2013

Thursday, 13 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Non Life Company GWP grows 38% to Rs. 2.1 billion
Non Life Company PBT Rs. 249 million
Life Company GWP grows by 56% to Rs. 829 million
Dividend to Life policyholders 8%

The year was a memorable one for Allianz Lanka, with the company achieving the highest growth in the Sri Lanka insurance industry, both in Life as well as in Non Life business. In the Non Life company the Gross Written Premium (GWP) grew by 38%, from Rs. 1.5 billion to Rs. 2.1 billion. The company was also successful in achieving operating profits of Rs. 249 million, despite heavy investment on recruitment and expansion. Notwithstanding the highly competitive soft market, Allianz Lanka continued to make underwriting profits, of Rs. 90 million during the year under review. The main strategic focus was on developing retail business. The company has a large portfolio of corporate business; hence, it changed its gear towards personnel line retail business in the year 2013 which has paid many dividends. The company’s business composition in Non Life shifted this year, with Motor: non-Motor business mix shifting to 24%: 76%. The heavy expansion and consequent infrastructure development costs reduced the return on equity from 29% to 22%. The company’s solvency margin stood at 2.3 times above the regulatory required minimum. Financial stability was also confirmed with the growth in net assets base by 12% from Rs. 780 million to Rs. 875 million. In the Life company, the GWP grew by 56% from Rs. 532 million to Rs. 829 million and so was the first year premium by 64%. Investments grew substantially by 73%. The company was also successful in continuing to reduce the net loss by a further 32%. The solvency margin was 5.3 times higher than the regulatory minimum. As it takes a much longer time to turnaround the Life company to profitability, the company is well on track towards achieving this goal. The success in the investment strategy enabled the company to declare a dividend of 8% to policyholders. This year, Allianz Life insurance added to its basket of Life products by introducing Unit Link, a policy that enables policyholders to decide on their investment based on their risk appetite, and grow their protection and investment by switching among designated funds. “The year was one of growth and expansion. We opened 18 branches mainly in Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Western provinces. Our strong growth, despite having no captive business, confirms the success of our strategies and initiatives to grow the business in Sri Lanka. I am also very pleased with the progress made by our already established branches, especially with the contribution of the North and East,” said Allianz Lanka Chief Executive Officer Surekha Alles. For the future, Allianz Lanka will focus on sustainable growth and expansion into the suburbs and will further invest in IT infrastructure development. Digitalization will play a key role in reaching out to customers and in bringing customers convenience and efficiency improvements.