Hanwha Life’s 2024 First Half Performance: Strong Insurance Sales Amidst Challenges

In the first half of 2024, Hanwha Life achieved noteworthy results despite facing several challenges. While overall profitability saw a decline, the strong sales of protection-oriented insurance products and the robust performance of new contract CSM indicated positive momentum. This post delves into Hanwha Life's key achievements in the first half of the year, analyzing the performance of its subsidiaries and overseas operations, and offering insights into future prospects.

Analysis of Hanwha Life’s First Half Performance

In the first half of 2024, Hanwha Life reported a net profit of 667.3 billion KRW, marking a 17.5% decrease compared to 809.1 billion KRW in the same period last year. Although this represents a drop in profitability, the robust sales of protection-focused insurance products led to a solid performance with new contract CSM reaching 996.5 billion KRW. These achievements highlight the effectiveness of Hanwha Life's profitability-centered management strategy, implemented under the new IFRS17 and IFRS9 accounting standards.

Total revenue increased slightly by 0.19% year-on-year to 12.54 trillion KRW, while operating profit decreased by 25.3% to 780.5 billion KRW. This reflects the combined impact of changes in the broader insurance industry environment and the company’s internal cost management strategies.

Performance of Hanwha Life Financial Services and Subsidiaries

Hanwha Life Financial Services posted 960.5 billion KRW in operating revenue, 58.6 billion KRW in operating profit, and 54.4 billion KRW in net profit during the first half of 2024. This subsidiary, which operates as a corporate insurance agency (GA), generates revenue by representing a wide range of life and non-life insurance companies.

Notably, People Life, which was incorporated as a subsidiary in the first quarter of this year, recorded 185.7 billion KRW in operating revenue, 8.3 billion KRW in operating profit, and 6.3 billion KRW in net profit, demonstrating rapid stabilization and solid performance. This success reflects Hanwha Life’s effective management of its subsidiaries and its strategy of expanding GA operations.

Stable Growth of Overseas Subsidiaries

Hanwha Life continues to experience stable growth not only domestically but also in its overseas operations. The Vietnamese subsidiary recorded 94.1 billion KRW in insurance premiums during the first half, achieving both organizational stability and performance growth. The company’s strategy of expanding its agency (GA) network and enhancing recruitment efforts to strengthen exclusive channels and explore new channels proved successful in the Vietnamese market.

In Indonesia, Hanwha Life is focused on establishing a stable sales base centered on personal channels. The company is working to improve its organizational structure in major urban areas across Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi islands. During the first half of the year, the subsidiary recorded 10.7 billion KRW in insurance premiums, laying the groundwork for future growth.

Despite facing various challenges, Hanwha Life secured significant achievements in the first half of 2024, solidifying its position in the insurance market. The strong sales of protection-oriented insurance products and the stable performance of its subsidiaries indicate a positive outlook for continued growth. Additionally, the performance of its overseas subsidiaries reflects the success of Hanwha Life's global expansion strategy. As we move into the second half of the year, Hanwha Life’s ongoing challenges and achievements will be important to watch.