The non-life insurance sector expects to post a double-digit growth in net premium this year, an industry executive said over the weekend.
Michael Rellosa, former president of Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association, told reporters the industry could replicate the 16.2-percent growth it posted in 2015 as long as no major catastrophe hit the country.
“The past two years have been friendly in the sense that we don’t have any major disturbances. So were able to add to our retailing income, add to our net worth,” said Rellos, who is also the president and chief executive of Fortune General Insurance Corp.
Latest data from the Insurance Commission showed that net premium income of the non-life sector jumped 16.2 percent to P37.3 billion in 2015. Insurance commissioner Emmanuel Dooc said earlier this was a record year for the sector.
“This is the highest in the history of non-life insurance. This is their banner year,” Dooc said.
Dooc said the expansion of the non-life sector was pushed by the P11-billion net premium income it posted in the last quarter of 2015, compared to an average quarterly level of P8 billion.
The P7.2-billion premium income posted by the mutual benefits association also pushed the industry’s growth expansion. “The performance of the MBA is nothing to sneeze at. They are now a major contributor to our premium income,” Dooc said.
Dooc earlier said the non-life sector could grow to “P47 billion for 2016,” or a 26.01 percent increase from the figure recorded last year.
Dooc said together with the life sector, he expected the insurance industry to book P300 billion in net worth by the end of 2016.
“I will be very happy if we hit 300 billion [in 2016]. I think it is achievable,” he said.
Pira is composed non-life insurance companies in the Philippines and represents the collective interests of the group.
The association has around 90 members that provide 90 percent of domestic non-life insurance services sold in the Philippines. Pira members also account for a substantial investment in the Philippine stock market.