Japan: Tokio Marine sounds alert on COVID-related losses in Taiwan
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Sep 2022
Tokio Marine Holdings has announced that the group will report a loss of JPY53.9bn ($405.8m) in the quarter ending 30 September due to COVID-19 claims incurred by its insurance unit in Taiwan.
Tokio Marine Newa Insurance offered coverage for COVID-19 illnesses or quarantines, eventually signing 940,000 policies in Taiwan. It stopped accepting new COVID customers by 15 February as the Omicron wave of the coronavirus brought a surge of prospective subscribers. Estimating an aggregate infection rate of 30%, the company has projected a net loss of JPY110.1bn ($829m) for the six months ended June, reported Nikkei Asia.
The insurer owns 48.94% of the Taiwanese unit, which translates to a JPY53.9bn impact to be booked in the current three months through September.
It said that a sudden change in COVID-19 policy by the Taiwanese government led to significant COVID-19 related losses for the entire non-life insurance market in Taiwan.
“Other businesses are performing strongly, especially in overseas operations, so we don’t plan to revise financial projections at this point,” said group CFO Kenji Okada.
Tokio Marine intends to lift its ownership to 50.18% in the Taiwanese unit by the end of the quarter to take control of the affiliate. A