South Korea’s 12 largest insurance firms reported a 23.8% increase in net income from their foreign operations thanks to strong contributions from their new international entities.
Their combined net income from 46 overseas businesses across 11 countries rose to US$197 million from $159.1 million in 2024.
“The growth was primarily attributed to the strong performance of newly consolidated entities,” the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) says in a statement on May 10. For example, it says Hanwha Life’s acquisition of Indonesia’s PT Bank Nationalnobu Tbk in June last year contributed $6.4 million to the Korean company, the country’s second largest life insurer.
“Excluding the income contributions from these newly added companies, the net income would have decreased by $13.5 million compared to the previous year,” the FSS says.
But the regulator cautioned that the outlook for operations abroad remains uncertain because of the war in the Middle East, which has triggered volatility in global financial markets, as well as rising risk of natural disasters driven by climate change.
The FSS urged the insurers to focus on risk management and says it will closely monitor financial stability of their foreign operations.
