Business and Economy
PHL pre-need industry posts 26.53% hike in 2016 net income
The Philippines’ pre-need industry has regained its footing as shown by its 26.53 percent net income expansion as of end-December 2016.
(Photo by RamirBorja at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 2.5)
Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa, in a release issued Tuesday, said the industry’s net income rose to PHP2.07 billion from year-ago’s PHP1.64 billion, boosted by huge increases registered by six companies at a rate between 51.86 percent and 895.69 percent.
Life plans fueled the industry’s growth after sales jumped 1.35 percent to 680,649 from 2015’s 671,564 plans while total plans, including educational and pension, reached 697,869 last year.
Funa traced this increase in the sales of seven players actively engaged in selling life plans, which account for 97.53 percent of the total.
The three companies with the highest number of plans sold are St. Peter Life Plan Inc., Eternal Plans Inc., and PhilPlans First, Inc.
Funa explained that when IC assumed the regulatory and supervisory mandate over the pre-need industry in 2010, the industry reported total plans reaching 162,520.
”Based on this tremendous increase, it is safe to conclude that the public has regained trust and confidence in pre-need products and services,” he said.
On the other hand, sale of pension and educational plans in 2016 contracted by 24.7 percent and 2.51 percent, respectively.
Total pension plans sold last year reached 16,328 while education plans sold totaled 892.
Total pre-need plans sold in 2016 rose less than 1 percent year on year to 697,869, with total contract price amounting to PHP28.19 billion.
The industry’s total assets grew 2.62 percent year on year to PHP120.1 billion from the previous year’s PHP117.01 billion due mainly to the 23.11 percent rise of assets in one company, while six others posted increases of between 0.27 percent and 11.23 percent.
Meanwhile, total premiums last year went down by less than 1 percent to PHP16.29 billion but Funa did not elaborate on this.
He said investments in trust funds rose 1.17 percent to PHP101.26 billion while pre-need reserves went up 3.82 percent to PHP96.34 billion.
“Without a doubt, pre-need products are vital instruments in promoting financial inclusivity. Thus, the Insurance Commissioner is pushing for the continuous growth and success of the pre-need industry,” Funa added.
