South Korea:Insurance industry's 2017 combined net profit shoot up 33% to over US$7 bln

South Korea's insurance firms saw their combined net profit jump by 33% to KRW7.82 trillion (US$7.21 billion) last year, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The profit surge is due to hefty investment gains on the back of stock rallies and a rise in market interest rates, reported the Yonhap News Agency.

Life insurers saw their combined net profit soar by 63.4% last year to KRW3.95 trillion. The combined net profit of non-life insurers rose by 11.8% year on year to KRW3.87 trillion.

"When it comes to life insurance companies, stock rallies and higher interest rates contributed to increasing insurance income. In addition, growing dividend income and interest revenues led to an increase in the investment income of life insurers," the FSS said in a statement.

"Meanwhile, non-life insurers' earnings improved based on a better loss ratio in auto insurance. Furthermore, considerably expanded investment income was attributable to interest rate increases in 2017," it said.

Insurers' premium income totaled KRW191.2 trillion last year, a dip of 2.1% year on year.

Their aggregate assets grew by 7.3% to KRW1,109.9 trillion Last year, the insurers' return on equity rose to 7.61% from 6.15% in 2016.