Samsung Fire & Marine Reports Record First-Half Profit on Improved Underwriting, Auto Insurance Turnaround
South Korea's largest property and casualty insurer posted its highest semi-annual profit since adopting IFRS 17, driven by disciplined underwriting and a return to profitability in auto insurance.
Record Semi-Annual Performance
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. reported pretax profit of ₩1.85 trillion ($1.85tn) for the first half of 2026, the highest semi-annual result since the adoption of IFRS 17 accounting standards, CFO Koo Young-min said during an earnings call on August 13. Net income attributable to controlling shareholders reached ₩1.37 trillion, up 10.2% year-over-year (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
The results reflected improvements across all business segments as the company executed a profitability-focused growth strategy initiated in the second half of 2025. Insurance profit rose 10.9% to ₩1.11 trillion, with gains accelerating in the second quarter, while investment profit increased 22% to ₩788 billion (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
Auto Insurance Returns to Black
A key highlight was the turnaround in auto insurance, which posted quarterly profit of ₩29.6 billion in the second quarter, marking a return to profitability on both quarterly and semi-annual bases after prioritizing underwriting discipline over volume growth. Premium revenue reached ₩2.74 trillion for the half, slightly below the prior year, as the company focused on improving its contract portfolio quality rather than expanding sales (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
The profitability improvement came despite rising claim costs, as earned premium growth initiatives launched in late 2025 combined with lower accident frequency due to reduced driving activity offset increased per-claim expenses, Koo said.
Long-Term Insurance Shows Quality Gains
In long-term insurance, the company's shift toward operational efficiency showed measurable results. While new protection business fell 19.5% to ₩14.9 billion per month, the contractual service margin (CSM) multiple improved to 13.9 times from 12.8 times year-over-year. Total CSM increased ₩427.1 billion from year-end 2025 to ₩14.59 trillion (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
Persistency rates improved across the board, with particularly strong gains in the 25th-month and 37th-month retention metrics, which rose 6.0 and 6.3 percentage points respectively. The loss ratio, which had deteriorated throughout 2025, declined 1.0 percentage point in the first quarter and a further 1.7 percentage points quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter, "gradually stabilizing," according to Koo (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
General Insurance and Investment Growth
General insurance profit surged ₩80.7 billion to ₩187.5 billion as premium revenue grew 11.2% to ₩942.5 billion, driven by growth in both domestic and overseas operations. The combined ratio improved as the loss ratio fell 6.0 percentage points to 59.6%, benefiting from portfolio management and fewer large claims (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
Investment operations delivered a 3.5% return on invested assets, with total investment income rising 16.3% to ₩1.75 trillion on the back of higher interest income from increased allocation to higher-yielding assets and equity market gains (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
Credit Rating Upgrade and AI Transformation
Koo highlighted that S&P Global Ratings upgraded Samsung Fire & Marine's credit rating to AA from AA- in July, making it "the first and only Korean private company" to hold an AA rating and placing it on par with global top-tier insurers (earnings call, 2026-08-13).
Looking ahead, the company is pursuing an "AI-native" transformation to redesign operations, enhance customer personalization, and develop new business opportunities, Koo said, as it aims to strengthen its market leadership and advance its global ambitions.
This article was generated by MarginX from the earnings call on 2026-08-13. It is not investment advice.