Life insurance firm reports first profits
HA NOI — Prudential Viet Nam yesterday announced its first yearly profit of VND61 billion (US$3.9 million) gained last year after five years operating in Viet Nam’s life insurance market.
The Ministry of Finance statistics reported the company last year earned a turnover of VND3.1 trillion ($197.5 million), representing more than 41 per cent of the country’s total life insurance market share.
Financial officials believe that the company’s profit announcement has signalled an upward trend for Viet Nam’s life insurance and financial investment market. The company has serviced more than 2 million customers through more than 70 customer centres in the country’s 50 provinces, said a company spokesman, adding that it continuously takes the lead in foreign-invested life insurers in Viet Nam in terms of premium turnover and market share.
The company’s general director Huynh Thanh Phong said the achievement has confirmed his company’s long-term investment to Viet Nam’s life insurance industry.
Prudential earlier this year was also licensed to set up a fund management company in Viet Nam which it believed it needed to safely and effectively manage and invest its premiums in the market.
The insurer said it has so far collected a total of VND5 trillion ($317 million) in premiums which have been invested in a wide range of sources, with 80 per cent going to Government bonds, 2.5 per cent to listed shares, 0.5 per cent to unlisted shares and 16.5 per cent to bank deposits and other short term investments.
Prudential Plc last year also reported a record profit of 1.2 billion pounds ($2.29 billion), up 39 per cent over 2003.
Viet Nam News, April 19, 2005
