THE Insurance Commission (IC) said the number of nonlife insurance companies in the country will be down to 53 by year-end, as two would be merging by year-end.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said two nonlife insurance companies are currently in discussions to merge by the end of the year. The two companies both belonged to a conglomerate.
“There are currently 54 nonlife companies operating in the country, but two of them will be eventually merging before the end of the year. They are actually part of a conglomerate, so we will be down to 53 by the end of the year,” Funa told financial reporters at the sidelines of the AXA Academy inauguration on Tuesday in Makati City.
The merger of the nonlife companies was said to help it become more efficient, Funa said. He did not disclose the names of the two nonlife companies, as they are still in talks for their merger.
“The two nonlife insurance companies will become more efficient if they merge so there will be no redundancy,” he added.
The IC earlier reported 54 nonlife companies and 27 life insurance firms are currently operating in the country.
In May this year the IC reported the total premium of the insurance industry in the first quarter posted a double-digit increase of 34.38 percent to P76.64 billion, from the P57.04 billion it posted during the same period in 2017. All three sectors exhibited strong performances.
Broken down, the life-insurance sector posted P61.79 billion in premiums collected as of end-March, up by 40.18 percent from the P44.08 billion recorded last year. The premiums of the nonlife insurance sector also grew by 13.29 percent to P12.34 billion, from P10.89 billion posted in the first quarter in 2017.
Income generated from contributions or premiums by MBAs reached P2.51 billion in the first three months of the year, up by 21.75 percent, from the P2.06 billion posted during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the insurance industry’s net income posted a double-digit growth of 26.72 percent amounting to P8.03 billion for the first quarter of this year, from the P6.34 billion last year.
The net income from the life-insurance sector grew by 31.16 percent, while the net income of the nonlife insurance industry registered a reduction of 19.21 percent for the quarter.
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IC Number please send