Generali is healthy, says BDO

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc. of retail magnate Henry Sy has assured that the life insurance business of its subsidiary, Generali Philippines (GP), is healthy.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), BDO said GP has even shown promise for growth.

BDO has made the assurance after it announced that it would wind down its non-life insurance business due to an overly competitive market and costs.

The unibank also pointed out that it would “continue with its life insurance business, particularly in bancassurance distributed through BDO channels.”

“After three years, our Board is fully convinced that any further effort to operate our non-life business has become far less attractive due to an overly competitive market and to the significant increase in catastrophe reinsurance costs, a consequence of a series of natural events that recently occurred in Asia,” GP president and chief executive officer Renato Vergel De Dios said. 

De Dios said “the above reasons, all of which are not expected to improve in the near future, led the Board to this unanimous decision.”

By shifting its focus towards its core life business and harnessing the partnership with banking leader BDO, GP is poised to achieve its ambitious growth targets that will move the company further up in industry rankings.

“With our strong foundation and right fundamentals now in place, we are extremely excited at the prospect of taking Generali Philippines to the next level,” Vergel de Dios said.

As of end-September 2012, GP increased its premiums by 38 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

BDO attributed the growth in its banassurance business to the enhancement in GP’s distribution channel.

GP currently employs a bancassurance sales force numbering over 500 who operate in more than 750 branches nationwide of BDO.