Ceylinco Insurance PLC, the holding company, recorded a consolidated after tax profit of Rs. 4.7 billion, for the year ended December 31, 2016 whilst the profit before tax stood at Rs. 5.9 billion.
Ceylinco General Insurance and Ceylinco Life Insurance recorded profits after tax of Rs. 1.3 billion and Rs. 2.9 billion, respectively.
The Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of Ceylinco Insurance PLC, Ajith Gunawardena said, “The Insurance sector managed to return an impressive premium income of Rs. 31.1 billion in 2016, with Ceylinco General Insurance recording Rs.16.1 billion, marking a growth of 18.9 %; an increase of over Rs. 2.5 billion year-on-year, just as Ceylinco Life Insurance registered a premium income of Rs. 15 billion, marking a growth of 11.7%; an increase of Rs. 1.5 billion.”
Ceylinco Life Insurance Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, R. Renganathan, said, “In 2016 we embarked on a huge market expansion program once again. Not only Ceylinco Life but the entire life insurance industry benefited through this. The year 2016 marks a 13-year period of unbroken market leadership for Ceylinco Life Insurance in the long term insurance segment. This is an incredible achievement, given the context of ever-increasing competition and the short-sighted tactics employed by smaller players in the market, in a bid to achieve short-term growth”
Managing Director of Ceylinco General Insurance, Patrick Alwis said, “The premium income of our flagship brand ‘Ceylinco VIP’ alone stood at a staggering Rs.9.9 billion, with Non Motor Insurance contributing Rs. 6.2 billion, allowing the total premium income of Ceylinco General Insurance to record yet another fantastic year. Ceylinco General Insurance has maintained its unassailable lead.”
“This is in the midst of stiff competition. What we have achieved in 2016, is all the more important, as the industry is not a level playing field, with government entities still enjoying distinct advantages. Despite such challenges, we have worked hard and worked together, and we have exceeded expectations, once again,” he said.
“Ceylinco General Insurance paid claims amounting to Rs. 10.4 billion during 2016.
The sharp increase in claim settlement is a result of the large number of claims we paid, during the floods in May 2016. Claims were paid within a period of 14 days, enabling our customers to return to normalcy in the fastest possible time. Some customers had only insured their vehicles, but not their homes, while some had insured their shops, but not their houses. However, Ceylinco General Insurance, looking at the situation from a humane angle, decided to pay a percentage to compensate the damages to their homes as well,” Alwis said.