South Korea’s top life insurer Samsung Life Insurance Co. saw its first-quarter net profit gain 14.7 percent from a year earlier thanks to stable insurance profit and increased investment margin.

Samsung Life’s net profit for the first quarter ended March reached 447.3 billion won ($376.1 million) on a consolidated basis, up 14.7 percent from a year ago, according to the company’s regulatory filing released on Wednesday. Operating profit rose 2.0 percent on year to 563.9 billion won on revenue of 8.2 trillion won, up 4.0 percent.

Samsung Life’s shares rose 0.6 percent to end at 81,000 won on Wednesday in Seoul.

The company’s bottom line improved in the first quarter on growth in profits from insurance premium and asset management, said the life insurer during an investor relation session held after its release of first-quarter earnings.

Its value of new business, which measures the profitability of a business that can be generated during a whole insurance period from current premium contract, jumped 20.6 percent to 314.6 billion won over the same period.

Its investment yield increased 0.1 percentage point to 3.9 percent, or 2 trillion won in investment income after the 152 billion won gain from asset sales was reflected.

Total asset amounted to 296.7 trillion won, up 4.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The company performed well across the board in the first quarter, except its premium income that slipped 2.9 percent to 5.1 trillion won from the same period last year.

The ratio of risk-based capital, the minimum capital an insurer must hold to protect investors and shows its financial soundness, came at 338 percent, up 34 percentage points on year. It claimed it has the best asset quality among local peers. The Korean financial authorities’ recommended level on the risk-based capital ratio is 150 percent or higher.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]