The Insurance Commission revised its 2016 revenue target for the insurance industry following the weak performance in the first quarter.
Insurance commissioner Emmanuel Dooc said total premiums were now expected to reach P250 billion this year, down from an earlier estimate of P280 billion to P300 billion.
“We’ll be lucky if we hit P250 billion this year,” he said.
Latest data showed that insurance industry’s income in the first quarter fell 16 percent year-on-year, following the money laundering heist that hit the Philippine banking industry in February.
Total premiums amounted to P47.7 billion in the first quarter, down by 15.2 percent from P56.3 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“In the first quarter, there was a dip in the production. It was also affected as variable life production suffered. I think it’s also related to the issues affecting some banks,” Dooc said.
The life sector contracted 19.7 percent year-on-year to P38.6 billion while the non-life sector grew 11.3 percent to P9.1 billion.