Philippine insurers' 2020 net income slips 8.6% to $859m

Premium income only crept up 1.18% YoY.

Insurers in the Philippines saw their 2020 net income drop 8.6% to $859m (PHP41.24b) due to the pandemic, according to data from the Insurance Commission (IC).

Premium income rose a feeble 1.18% YoY to $6.42b (PHP308.25b) as claims and benefit payments declined 12.38% to $2.1b (PHP98.49b).

The life segment saw its net income sink 16.41% to $629m (PHP30.2b) but premiums jumped 5.9% to $5.16b (PHP247.72b), with insurance penetration increasing 1.71%. Variable life products comprised premium income of $3.8b (PHP183.24b), whilst premiums from traditional life plans saw inched up1.09% to $1.34b (PHP64.48b).

The general insurance sector experienced an opposite fate, with its net income surging 65.81% to $117.5m (PHP5.64b). However, net premiums plunged 16.17% to $1.03b (PHP49.31b).

Meanwhile, the mutual benefits association (MBA) sector net income slipped 3.42% to $112.3m (PHP5.39b).