Overseas branches of Korean insurers return to black in 2024

Headquarters of the Financial Supervisory Service / Yonhap

Overseas branches of Korean insurance companies saw their net income turn to the black last year on the back of increased revenues and a base effect, data showed Wednesday.

The 44 overseas businesses of four life insurers and seven nonlife insurance firms here posted a combined net profit of $159 million last year, swinging from a loss of $14.3 million the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The financial regulator attributed the rebound in their net profit to increased revenues and the base effect.

In 2023, severe natural disasters, such as the wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, together with Typhoon Mawar that hit the U.S. territory of Guam, had caused a sharp decline in their profit.

Nonlife insurance firms logged a net profit of $95 million last year, and life insurers posted a combined net profit of $64 million.

Their assets reached $7.34 billion at the end of last year, up 14.3 percent from a year ago, according to the watchdog.