Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Q1 net down on base effect

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean insurer Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. said Thursday its first-quarter earnings decreased 5.2 percent from a year ago due to a higher base effect.

Net income came to 409 billion won (US$319 million) in the January-March period, down from a net profit of 432 billion won a year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing.

The decline was attributable to non-regular dividend income from Samsung Electronics Co. in the first quarter of last year.

Operating income decreased 1.7 percent on-year to 585 billion won and insurance premiums from policyholders stood at 4.88 trillion won, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier.

The loss rate for car insurance dropped 5.4 percentage points on-year to 74.5 percent, as the country's COVID-19 curbs led to fewer accidents.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is the non-life insurance arm of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-controlled conglomerate.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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