By Deborah Madeya:
The performance of the insurance sector remained burdened in the first half of the year, as players faced credit and liquidity vulnerabilities, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says.
This is despite the sector being adequately capitalised and solvent.
In its June Financial Stability Report published last week, the central bank indicated that although liquidity improved for non-life insurers, rising from 81 percent in December 2023 to 85 percent, the overall ratio remained weak, at below the minimum regulatory requirement of 100 percent.
The life insurance sector’s solvency ratio increased to 160.9 percent in June 2024 from 158.5 percent in December 2023 and 155.9 percent in June 2023.
The general insurance sector also remained well-capitalised, with the solvency ratio for the sub-sector increasing to 33.2 percent, which is above the minimum regulatory requirement of 20 percent.
“Despite this improvement, the overall liquidity ratio remains unsatisfactory. Late premium payments are the main factor contributing to the sector’s weak liquidity ratio,” the report reads.
The report further indicated that the profitability of life insurers decreased from K34.6 billion in June 2023 to K23.8 billion, a situation attributed to the performance of the stock market.
“The primary driver of the reduction in profits is the subdued performance of the stock market year over year, which resulted in a decrease in return on equity to 15.1 percent, compared to 24.4 percent in June 2023 and 39.8 percent in December 2023.
“However, the non-life insurance sector performed well, reporting a profit after tax of K7.2 billion, up from K3.4 billion posted in June 2023. The main drivers of this performance were growth in underwriting surplus and high yields on fixed-income investments, supported by prevailing high interest rates,” the report reads.
The central bank, however, cautioned the industry to consider diversifying its investment portfolio to minimise concentration risk.
In an interview Insurance Association of Malawi Vice President Wales Meja said that non-collection and heavy receivables are impacting liquidity.
He, however, said the challenges would be resolved in the coming years as the market moves towards a cash-and-carry regime.
“Liquidity is typically measured by comparing total assets to total receivables (debtors). Due to the cyclical nature of the market, between January and May, businesses write off over 50 percent of their total annual business.
“With the introduction of the IFRS 17 standard and risk-based capital requirements, the market is pushing for a cash-and-carry regime. In the next couple of years, liquidity should not be a problem. We have tried getting clients to sign commitment forms for payments, but we have noted that the default rates remain high, hence the push for cash-and-carry,” Meja said.
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