South Korea: Insurance sector enjoys 30% surge in 1H profits
    
        
            
                
            Source: Asia Insurance Review | Oct 2015
         
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    South Korean insurance companies’ net profit jumped 30.2% for the first six months of the year from a year earlier on a rise in investment-related earnings, the financial watchdog has announced.
 
   The combined net income of local life and non-life insurers reached KRW4.47 trillion (US$3.8 billion) in the January-June period, compared with KRW3.44 trillion for the first six months of the previous year, reported the Yonhap News Agency citing the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
 
   Life insurance firms posted a 40.2% year-on-year surge in profit to KRW2.8 trillion over the six-month period, while non-life insurers’ profit improved by 16.3% to KRW1.68 trillion. Increased investment returns contributed to the strong bottom lines.
 
   The industry’s combined premium revenue rose by 5.5% to KRW91 trillion from KRW86.2 trillion a year ago.