- Premium income improves by 14.6% to Rs 33.4 billion
- Pays Rs 23 billion in net claims and benefits to policyholders
- Life Fund grows by 16.8% to Rs 157.5 billion
- CAR improves to 344% nearly triple the minimum requirement
Ceylinco Life has achieved the milestone of two decades of unbroken market leadership in Sri Lanka’s life insurance industry, posting impressive premium income and consolidated income growth in the year ending 31st December 2023.
Policyholders received a record Rs 23 billion in net claims and benefits in 2023, up by 22 per cent year on year, as the Company posted gross written premium income of Rs 33.41 billion and investment and other income of Rs 28 billion, reflecting improvements of 14.6 per cent and 39.5 per cent respectively.
Consequently, consolidated income for the 12 months, at Rs 61.4 billion represented topline growth of 24.7%, a noteworthy achievement in the context of the socio-economic challenges that prevailed in the year, the Company said.
Ceylinco Life’s Fund grew by Rs 23 billion or 16.8 per cent to Rs 157.5 billion as at 31st December 2023, after a transfer of Rs 1.97 billion to the Shareholders Fund in respect of the year.
Total assets grew by Rs 33.2 billion or 17.3 per cent to reach Rs 224.7 billion at the end of 2023, while the Company’s investment portfolio recorded an increase of Rs 32.2 billion or 19.4 per cent in value over the 12 months to reach Rs 198.1 billion as at 31st December 2023.
“Economic and political uncertainty continued to preoccupy businesses as well as consumers in the year concluded, making investment decisions more difficult,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO Mr Thushara Ranasinghe commented. “Our ability to continue to outperform the competition to record our 20th consecutive year of market leadership is a clear demonstration of the depth of the trust and confidence that Ceylinco Life has built for its proposition of de-risking the future for policyholders.”
Notably, Ceylinco Life’s Risk-based Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) improved to 344 per cent at end 2023, well above the minimum CAR of 120 per cent required by the industry regulator.
The Company’s basic earnings per share for the year amounted to Rs 116.04, while net assets value per share stood at Rs 1087.47 as at 31st December 2023. Return on equity for the year was 10.7 per cent.
Adjudged Sri Lanka’s Brand of the Year for the second successive year in 2023, Ceylinco Life has been named the ‘Best Life Insurer in Sri Lanka’ by World Finance for nine years, and was conferred the title of ‘Peoples Life Insurance Service Provider of the Year’ at the 2023 SLIM Kantar Peoples Awards for the 17th consecutive year. The Company was also named one of the 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka in 2023 by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), was ranked the ‘Most Valuable Insurance Brand in Sri Lanka’ across both life and general insurance categories in 2023 by Brand Finance, and certified a ‘Great Workplace’ in Sri Lanka for the third consecutive year in 2022.
The 2022 Annual Report of Ceylinco Life won the joint Gold Award for ‘Best Presented Annual Report’ in the Life Insurance sector at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Awards and was adjudged the best in the ‘Finance Services and Insurance’ category at the Sustainability Reporting Awards presented by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).