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The country's largest private general insurance company Green Delta Insurance has reported an 11.78 per cent lower profit to Tk 540 million for 2024, compared to the year before, as its premium income fell.
However, the company has declared a 25 per cent cash dividend for shareholders for 2024, as much as it paid for 2023.
Green Delta has been showing a persistent fall in income since 2022 like most other insurance companies amid macroeconomic challenges and runaway inflation.
Its earnings per share stood at Tk 5.39 in 2024, down from Tk 6.11 a year ago.
Green Delta Insurance is the biggest player after state-owned Sadharan Bima Corporation in the general insurance market in Bangladesh.
Sadharan Bima has more than 10 per cent share and Green Delta more than 9 per cent market share in insurance premium, according to the data of the Insurance Development & Regulatory Authority (IDRA), updated until 2022.
Subsidiary companies of Green Delta are reporting year-on-year declines in profit since 2022.
These are Green Delta Securities, Green Delta Capital, Professional Advancement Bangladesh and GD Assist Ltd.
Together, these subsidiaries operate the core insurance business and provide a wide range of services, including stock brokerage and investment banking services, professional training in insurance etc. GD Assist Ltd has strategically branched out to healthcare tourism through its wide hospital and medical network present at major healthcare tourism hubs of the world.
An increase in expenditure for claim settlement and capital market downturn shrank profitability.
The net asset value (NAV) per share stood at Tk 70.40 as of December last year, which was Tk 73.18 a year ago. According to the company, NAV fell due to a decline in the investment value in the share market.
The insurer is yet to disclose details of audited financial statements for 2024, such as gross premium income and investment income.
In the nine months through September last year, Green Delta's gross premium plunged 14 per cent year-on-year to Tk 3.01 billion while investment income soared 31 per cent year-on-year to Tk 321 million.
In Bangladesh, general insurance companies do business mainly in three segments -- fire, transport and marine.
The general insurer will hold an annual general meeting (AGM) on March 27 while the record date is March 4.
Following the earnings disclosure, the stock climbed down 0.21 per cent to Tk 47.1 per share on Wednesday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.