Amid a difficult environment marked by soaring prices of gas and food, the country’s pre-need industry reported a 21.4 percent drop in sales in the first six months of the year to P7.8 billion from P9.92 billion a year earlier, according to data culled by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Non-Traditional Securities Department.
The number of plans sold to the public, on the other hand, rose 9.16 percent to 124,928 from 114,443 the same period a year earlier.
Sales of pension plans declined 36.34 percent to P3.94 billion from P6.19 billion as the number of units sold decreased 22 percent to 40,313 from 51,697.
Sales of education plans likewise dropped 46.31 percent to P967.54 million from P1.8 billion. The number of plans sold declined 56.06 percent to 5,644 from 12,845.
Life plans, on the other hand, registered a 49.75 percent rise in sales to P2.89 billion from P1.93 billion as the number of plans sold jumped 58.26 percent.
Initial collections, the first payment made by the planholder upon purchase of a plan depending on his or her mode of payment, reached P750.98 million or 34.88 percent lower than the previous year’s P1.15 billion.
In June alone, pre-need sales amounted to P1.4 billion, down 19.14 percent from P1.74 billion. This even as the number of plans sold grew 15.6 percent to 21,083.