Korean non-life insurers' overseas earnings rise 28.7 pct in H1

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean non-life insurers saw their earnings from
overseas operations gain 28.7 percent on-year in the first half of fiscal 2008
due mainly to rising earned insurance premiums, the financial watchdog said
Monday.
The combined net profit of seven local non-life insurers' 39 overseas operations
reached US$17.2 million in the April-September period, compared with $13.3
million a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. They
close the books on March 31.
The higher bottom line came as income from premiums gained 8 percent on-year to
$59.8 million, the watchdog said.
Their total assets amounted to $467.3 million as of the end of September, up 12.2
percent from the end of June.
The regulator said it will strengthen its monitoring of overseas operations by
local non-life insurance firms as a global economic downturn and the financial
turbulence are feared to hurt their financial health.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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