SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean insurance companies' combined net income rose in the first nine months of this year due to a double-digit income growth for both life and non-life insurers, financial watchdog data showed Tuesday.
Preliminary net income for 22 life insurers and 31 non-life insurers totaled 13.4 trillion won (9.6 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-September period, up 13.2 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Net income for life insurers gained 12.6 percent to 5.31 trillion won in the nine-month period thanks to greater sales of protection-type insurance policy and higher investment income. Net profit for non-life insurers expanded 13.6 percent to 8.09 trillion won on growing sales of long-term insurance plan and higher gains from valuation of financial assets.
Premium income for the insurers climbed 4.8 percent to 170.09 trillion won in the cited period on the back of demand for protection-type and savings-type insurance products among life insurers and demand for long-term and general insurance products as well as retirement pension among non-life insurers.
Return on assets for the insurers, or a major gauge of profitability, added 0.07 percentage points from a year earlier to 1.44 percent in the January-September period, while return on equity advanced 2.08 percentage points to 11.35 percent. (1 won equals 0.00071 U.S. dollars) ■
