Korean Reinsurance : · Korean Re’s Business Results for t...

Korean Re's Business Results for the First Half of 2022

Korean Re reported strong premium growth for the first half of 2022, with gross written premiums jumping by 10% to KRW 4,586.4 billion. The growth was driven by new coinsurance business, which led domestic personal lines of business to expand by 16.4%. Excluding coinsurance transactions, we achieved a 4.4% increase in premiums from domestic personal lines as long-term and motor businesses continued to grow. A robust increase in premiums from overseas business also boosted overall top-line growth, supported by ongoing market hardening. Although our overseas life business shrank due to portfolio adjustment, we saw our international P&C business grow strongly in the current favorable rating environment.

For the six months ending June 30, 2022, we delivered KRW 67 billion in net income, down 44.3% compared to the same period of the previous year. The deterioration in profit was attributable to weaker underwriting results of our overseas business amid growing COVID-19 losses, coupled with natural catastrophe losses. We reported a combined ratio of 100.2%, up 2.1%p year on year, with the ratio for overseas business rising to 107.4%. On the other hand, domestic commercial business continued to record underwriting profit, generating an improved combined ratio of 84.1%. This higher underwriting profitability was backed by upward pricing trends in most commercial lines of business and fewer large-loss events in Korea. Our domestic personal lines of business also improved to a combined ratio of 100.5% from 101.9% a year earlier as we withdrew from poorly performing contracts.

We achieved stable investment results on the back of a strong growth in invested assets, with investment gains amounting to KRW 113 billion in the first half of 2022. The total invested assets soared by 17.2% due to coinsurance transactions and the issuance of hybrid capital securities. We saw gains on the sale of bonds decrease but managed to yield solid returns on alternative investments. Our alternative investment portfolio consists mostly of high-quality assets that generate stable cash flows. In the first six months of the year, we posted an investment yield of 3.1% in spite of increased market volatility. Going forward, we will continue our expansion into new and diversifying sources of investment return to deliver stable investment performance.