Filipino-owned life insurer Insular Life (InLife) said it expects a continued growth in new business despite the still-elevated headline inflation this year. In a media roundtable in Makati City on Thursday, InLife president and CEO Raoul Antonio Littaua said their New Business Annualized Premium Equivalent (NBAPE) grew by 127 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year. NBAPE is the global standard used to determine the sales performance of life insurance companies in the country. During this period, InLife’s NBAPE amounted to PHP1.706 billion. “We will exceed our NBAPE (sales) target this year. As of the first half this year, we are at 127 percent increase already over the same period last year. And we see this growth momentum being sustained,” Littaua said. Last year, the company’s NBAPE reached PHP1.9 billion. Littaua acknowledged, however, that for this year, InLife will not surpass its PHP5.2 billion recorded net income last year. “In terms of net income that will be very difficult to replicate, so I don’t see… Well, basically in terms of investments, you know, equities are also down. As you all know, the stock market has been down for quite a while. Now that’s going to be difficult to replicate,” he said. Meanwhile, InLife chief transformation officer Efren Caringal said they are still seeing growth opportunities despite the high inflation rate. Headline inflation further accelerated to 6.1 percent last month from 5.3 percent in August. “Inflation will have a sort of a challenge for the insurance [sector]. Insurance is not really top of the basket of goods that the consumer would buy. Generally if inflation is high, you will see smaller savings in general,” Caringal said. “But still, the reality in the Philippines is, the insurance penetration, there’s really room to grow, it’s [just] a matter of increasing financial literacy of Filipinos,” he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency
