Pru Life registers 187% growth in first quarter

MANILA, Philippines - The Pru Life UK Philippines has reported total premiums of P2.5 billion in the first three months of 2011, or an increase of 187 percent compared to the P1.34 billion in the same period last year.

Pru Life UK Philippines is a subsidiary of Prudential plc, one of the largest global financial institutions.

From January to March 2011, first year premiums (FYP) grew by 129 percent, or from P860 million in the first quarter of 2010 to P1.97 billion.

Renewal premiums expanded by 10 percent to P530 million this year from P480 million in the same period in 2010.

FYPs are newly-written life insurance policies while renewal premiums are active policies still requiring periodic payments.

However, Pru Life of UK chief executive officer for the Philippines Antonio Manuel G. de Rosas expressed concern over the continued prevailing weakness in interest rates.

“The drop in interest rates has made it more challenging for Pru Life to develop traditional products which give high guarantees. Hence, the company will continue to focus on developing and selling variable unit-linked (VUL) products since these achieve and even outperform the protection and investment expectations of policyholders, especially in a sustained low interest rate environment,” De Rosas added.

But the Pru Life chief executive stressed that while VULs will still be the main thrust for 2011, it will be VUL products more skewed toward providing protection.

In 2010, the life insurer reported total premiums of P7.8 billion, or some 122 percent higher than the P3.5 billion recorded in 2009. First year premiums likewise ballooned to P5.7 billion.

In the same period, net income reached P640 million while net investment income amounted to P903 million.

Over 90 percent of new businesses are VUL insurance policies while the remaining eight percent are traditional policies.

Policies-in-force at the end of 2010 hit 100,000, majority of which were produced by its 2,150 agents.