Ceylinco Insurance has announced a dividend of 65% (INR6.50 or US$0.12 per share) for its shareholders. Ceylinco Insurance said that the company declared this bonus in appreciation of the tremendous trust placed in the company by its shareholders and policyholders alike.

“With the exceptional performance in 2011, the shareholder’s fund of the company, which stood at INR7.6 billion (US$140 million) in 2010, saw a rise of 24% to reach INR9.45 billion. The company’s total assets also went up, recording an increase of 24.3% from INR49.3 billion to INR61.3 billion in 2011. The total premium income during 2011 stood at INR19.8 billion, to which the General Division contributed INR10 billion, while the Life Division contributed the remaining INR9.8 billion. The company’s total profit before tax went up to INR1,271 million, showing an increase of 36%. Ceylinco Insurance believes that the results achieved are a reflection of resilience and strength, expressed through the confidence placed in the company by shareholders and customers,” the insurer said in a statement.

Commenting on the results, Mr Ajith Gunawardena, Managing Director/CEO of Ceylinco Insurance – General, said that: “Behind these results are the steadfast confidence placed in us by our customers, our shareholders, whose trust we value, and our staff, who ensured that the company maintained the highest standards in customer care and added value to every aspect of the level of service we deliver. Of course, sound management principles also helped the company achieve this level of success.”

Commenting on the performance of the Life Division, where more than 143,259 new life policies were sold in 2011, Managing Director/CEO of Ceylinco Life, Mr R. Renganathan, said that the company performance was significant, considering the intense competition prevalent in the industry. He added that the performance of the company during 2011 indicated an encouraging growth and noted with confidence that the company succeeded in maintaining its leadership position in the industry, for the eighth consecutive year. He further noted that a key financial stability indicator, the company’s solvency margin, had increased considerably in 2011, and was now eight times more than the required rate.