Great Eastern publishes full-year financials

Falloff of 30%

Shareholder profits declined in Q4 2022, posting SG$3.3 million. According to the report, this largely reflects the negative impact of financial market movements, which adversely impacted the valuation of insurance contract liabilities in the non-participating business of Singapore.

The profit attributable to shareholders recorded a falloff of 30% to SG$784.2 million, reflecting the lower valuation of investments due to the challenging global investment climate. That said, operating profit from its insurance business grew 7% for the year.

Great Eastern’s total weighted new sales (TWNS) declined 9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, leading to a 3% decrease for the entire fiscal year. This comes from lower sales from the single premium plans, offset partially by better performance in the regular premium sales. In contrast, the insurer’s new business embedded value (NBEV) posted some growth, with 22% recorded for Q4 2022 and 9% in the entire fiscal year, posting SG$279.5 million and SG$874.8 million, respectively.

Notwithstanding the losses, the capital adequacy ratios of Great Eastern’s insurance subsidiaries in Singapore and Malaysia remain strong and well above the respective minimum regulatory levels, according to the report.

“While the group’s profit was impacted by the volatility in the global financial markets during the year, our investment portfolio remains sound and our capital position also remains strong,” Hock

Seng said. “The group’s NBEV and operating profit from insurance business continued its good growth momentum, underscoring the strength of our core business fundamentals, achieving a year-on-year growth of 9% and 7% for the full year.”