UOI nine-month profit tumbles 42% to S$15.2m

MAINBOARD-LISTED United Overseas Insurance (UOI), the general insurance arm of UOB, saw its net profit shrink by 42 per cent to S$15.2 million for the nine months ended Sept 30, from S$26.1 million a year ago.

The insurer's gross premium declined 6.6 per cent on the year to S$77.9 million, from S$83.4 million for the corresponding period last year. This was mainly due to lower business activities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, UOI said in its financial update on Wednesday evening.

For the first nine months of the year, underwriting profit rose 0.9 per cent to S$12.4 million.

Meanwhile, non-underwriting income came in at S$5.8 million, down 69.5 per cent from S$18.8 million in the preceding year. This was attributed to adverse market conditions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the global recession, UOI noted.

It added that in the comparative period last year, there were realised and unrealised gains from unit trusts, as well as a one-time special dividend received from an equity investment which were not repeated in 2020.

Overall, total comprehensive income plunged 91.7 per cent to S$3.4 million, from S$40.9 million a year earlier, due to underperformance of investment, UOI said.

The counter last traded at S$6.44 on Oct 26.