Sri Lanka Janashakthi Insurance hit by flood claims

Sept 02, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Janashakthi Insurance said net profit in the six months to June 2010 fell 45 percent to 145 million rupees from a year ago mainly because of a flood of claims for damage caused by recent floods.







The company has an asset base of over 11 billion rupees with 4.1 billion in government securities, Schaffter said.





Total revenue grew seven percent to 3.15 billion rupees while the net earned premium was up five percent to 2.6 billion rupees over the period, a stock exchange filing said.

Net insurance claims and benefits rose 35 percent to 1.6 billion rupees from the previous year.

Basic earnings per share fell to 40 cents in June 2010 from 73 cents the year before.

Managing Director of Janashakthi Insurance Prakash Schaffter said there was "fierce competition" in the market with 19 players and "challenging" economic conditions.

In the six months to June 2010 total claims incurred increased by 413 million rupees as against the same period of last year, he said in a statement.

"Compared to the same period of 2009 the company has experienced a decline in profit after tax in spite of being the most profitable listed insurer," Schaffter said.

"This was a result of heavy claims