Ceylinco at the top with Rs 15.3 bln premium income in 2006

Ceylinco Insurance Co. Ltd has retained its position as the market leader in Sri Lanka’s ultra competitive insurance sector in 2006, with premium income of Rs 15.3 billion reflecting a consolidated growth of 19.5 per cent over 2005, the company said.

Over the years Ceylinco and Sri Lanka Insurance have been battling for stakes as the bigger player in an extremely lucrative market with a series of advertisements and newspaper articles on who is the best and the biggest.

Ceylinco’s life insurance division showed premium income of Rs 5.7 billion up 19 per cent and from 2005.. The General Insurance Division has achieved a premium income growth of 19 per cent in the year to Rs 9.6 billion, also consolidating its leadership in its segment, a company statement said.

The company ended the year with the launch of a new marketing campaign that focuses on the need for life insurance, rather than on the company’s numerous insurance products in the market. “The penetration of life insurance in Sri Lanka is still under 10 per cent. This means that an alarming segment of the population is still not protected with insurance, despite the efforts of all the insurance companies,” a spokesman said.