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Baht/$ 34.23/25 (Bid/Ask)
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GOLD |
13,350
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INSURANCE
POST REPORTERS
Sri Muang Insurance, part of Japanese insurance giant the Millea Group and the country's largest marine insurer, expects to achieve growth of 7-10% this year despite the country's economic uncertainty and political instability.
''The performance for the first half of 2008 is outstanding, with growth of over 45% over the same period last year driven by a rise in new customers,'' said Youichi Tamagaki, president of Sri Muang Insurance Co.
The company reported gross written premiums for the first half of 2008 worth 1.78 billion baht, with motor insurance contributing 50%, marine and cargo 19%, property 18% and miscellaneous 13%.
Following an aggressive expansion into personal lines in recent years, Sri Muang raised its motor insurance premiums to 50% of its business in the first half of this year from 47% at the end of last year.
But Mr Tamagaki did not expect the company to continue its strong performance over the rest of the year.
''I am not optimistic for the latter half of 2008, especially in the motor business. I am quite happy if at the end of 2008 we can achieve 7% to 10% growth in gross written premiums, and the same level of profit as last year,'' he said.
Last year, Sri Muang reported total written premiums of 2.9 billion baht, up 13% from a year earlier, with net profit of 170 million baht. The profit drop was due to the IT upgrade expense.
Lhuckchai Suttichujit, executive vice-president, said Sri Muang was set to maintain the balance of written premiums between motor and non-motor segment for the remaining months.
As part of the scheme and to boost its sales in the second half, the company yesterday launched affordable policies to cover cancer, household and SMEs.
The cancer policy provides coverage to people up to 65 years of age with a starting premium of 700 baht a year. The coverage includes all types of cancer at every stage, a different approach from existing insurance coverage. In the future, the company also plans to introduce travel and personal accident insurance.
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