Sales of pre-need companies plunge 34% in H1

Total sales of pre-need firms plunged 34 percent in the first six months of the year, highlighting tough business conditions facing the industry.

Data collated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that the pre-need industry recorded sales of P12.1 billion in the first six months of the year compared with P18.38 billion in the same period last year.

The number of plans sold for the period under review fell 24.8 percent to 185,729 from 246,975 with education plans and pension plans recording a 54 percent and 40 percent drop in their sales, respectively.

Sales of life plans, however, jumped 69.6 percent to P2.38 billion from P1.41 billion, equivalent to 73,148 units compared with only 43,479 units last year.

Sales of pension plans reached P6.03 billion, 41 percent lower than the P10.23 billion registered the previous year. The number of pension plans sold plunged by 40 percent to 80,669 units.

Sales of education plans, on the other hand, amounted to P3.69 billion or a decrease of 45.3 percent from the year earlier level of P6.75 billion. The number of education plans sold this year reached only 31,912 from 69,328 a year ago.

Initial collections from these plans amounted to P1.27 billion or 31.02 lower than the previous year’s P2.06 billion.

Philam Plans dominated the sales of education plans, selling a total of 10,782 plans worth P1.52 billion.

On second place was Berkley International Plans with sales of P851.22 million, equivalent to 8,113 units.

Meanwhile, Prudentialife Plans Inc. was the top seller of life and pension plans. It sold P882.64-million worth of life plans and P1.67-billion worth of pension plans, equivalent to 18,184 units and 13,432 units, respectively.

The pre-need industry caters to clients who resort to pre-need plans as saving mechanisms to answer future needs of either themselves or their beneficiaries. The plans provide for the educational costs of their children; their pension upon retirement; and memorial service upon their demise.