Sri Lanka Ceylinco Insurance March profit down 29-pct

May 26, 2009 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Ceylinco Insurance Company said March 2009 net profit fell 29 percent to 101 million rupees from a year ago as claims went up, despite a sharp increase in investment income.

The firm is part of the Ceylinco group which was thrown into a crisis when an unlisted subsidiary, Golden Key Credit Card Company, collapsed.

Gross written premium fell 11 percent to 4.

4 billion rupees, re-insurance premiums fell 16 percent to 609 million rupees and net written premium fell 10 percent to 3.8 billion rupees.

Insurance claims and benefits rose 30 percent to two billion rupees, the accounts showed.

The company, a unit of Sri Lanka's Ceylinco group, said in a stock exchange filing that total revenue including investment income, rose three percent to 4.

8 billion rupees for the three months ended March 31, 2009.

Income from investment shot up 46 percent to 799 million in the quarter during which Sri Lanka's risk free bond yields, which peaked around 20 percent in December 2008, have been coming down.

Ceylinco Insurance had total assets of 41.

7 billion rupees as at March 31, 2009 compared with 40.1 billion rupees as at December 31, 2008.