United Overseas Insurance's Q2 profit plunges 47.8%

UNITED Overseas Insurance (UOI) on Tuesday posted a 47.8 per cent year-on-year slump in second-quarter FY2015 net profit to S$5.09 million.

Annualised earnings per share came up to 33.29 Singapore cents, down from 53.11 cents in the year-ago period.

Gross premiums written for the quarter slid 3.9 per cent to S$30.76 million due mainly to portfolio pruning by management.

Net earned premiums dropped 4.7 per cent to S$10.09 million while net claims incurred fell by 9.4 per cent to S$4.35 million.

Underwriting profit rose 12.5 per cent to S$3.33 million for the three months from April.

The group recorded a much lower non-underwriting income of S$2.76 million, down 68.3 per cent, largely due to a one-time investment gain last year and lower gains from the sales of investments in the current quarter.

Net asset value per share grew to S$5.07 as at end-June, compared to S$4.96 as at end-December.

On its prospects, UOI said the projected slowing down of the national economy will affect premium growth although the impact on underwriting profitability will unlikely be significant given the underlying resilience in the company's portfolio. "The level of investment income will likely remain depressed given the continued volatility in an unstable global environment."