Samsung Life's first-quarter net profit increased by 89.5%, driven by investment income

Samsung Life Insurance significantly increased its net profit and operating profit for the current period due to a sharp rise in investment income in the first quarter of 2026, delivering results that exceeded market expectations.

According to information disclosed on the 14th, Samsung Life’s consolidated net profit for the first quarter was 1.2036 trillion Korean won, an 89.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit was 1.3578 trillion Korean won, up 80.1%; sales reached 14.7194 trillion Korean won, a 75% increase. The core of this performance improvement was not primarily in the insurance business but in the investment sector. Due to increased dividend income from Samsung Electronics and the strengthening stock market boosting the consolidated profits of subsidiaries such as Samsung Securities and Asset Management, overall profitability was significantly enhanced.

As a key indicator of the long-term profitability of insurance companies—the Insurance Contract Service Margin (CSM, referring to the future profits gradually recognized over the contract period)—it improved due to the expansion of new contract sales. The first quarter’s new contract CSM was 848.6 billion Korean won, an 11% increase from the previous quarter, with a new contract CSM multiple of 11.4 times. Growth in health insurance sales and the joint development of exclusive agent channels and non-exclusive channels had a positive impact. The held CSM also increased by 400 billion Korean won from the beginning of the year due to new contract expansion and insurance efficiency management, reaching 13.6 trillion Korean won. However, insurance service gains and losses due to the gap between actual claims and expenses versus expectations (i.e., experience deviations) widened, decreasing to 256.5 billion Korean won, a 7.7% decrease year-on-year.

In contrast, investment gains and losses showed a clear improvement. Investment income for the first quarter reached 1.2729 trillion Korean won, a sharp increase of 125.5% compared to the same period last year. Samsung Life stated that while it continues to prioritize Asset-Liability Management (ALM, an operational approach where insurance companies adjust asset durations and yield structures based on long-term liabilities and insurance payment obligations), it is also advancing a diversified asset strategy. Its managed asset scale was 265 trillion Korean won. The solvency ratio reflecting financial robustness (K-ICS) as of the end of March was 210%, up 12 percentage points from the end of last year. Generally, the higher this ratio, the more stable the insurance payment capacity. The number of exclusive agents was approximately 44.4k, a net increase of about 1,500 since the beginning of the year, expanding the business foundation.

During the conference call that day, supported by strong performance and the possibility of special dividends from Samsung Electronics in the future, the focus shifted to the shareholder return strategy of Samsung Life. Although Samsung Life acknowledged high market expectations, it expressed a cautious stance, stating that it is difficult to initiate dividend plans based on the premise of special dividends or shareholder return plans from Samsung Electronics, which have not yet been clearly disclosed for the next year. However, the company noted that if Samsung Electronics’ large-scale dividends materialize, the related disposal gains would be included in Samsung Life’s retained earnings and could be used as a source for dividends. The company maintained a mid-term plan to increase the dividend payout ratio to 50% and stated it would continue the trend of an average annual dividend per share growth of over 16% over the past five years. The cancellation reserve has been accrued since the end of last year, reaching 1.6 trillion Korean won by the end of the first quarter of this year, which the company described as the lowest level in the industry. The growth in new health insurance contracts and the recent increases in interest rates and stock prices, which impact variable insurance, were listed as reasons for the reserve increase. This trend indicates that Samsung Electronics’ future dividend policy, financial market conditions, and health insurance sales expansion are likely to jointly influence Samsung Life’s performance and dividend capacity.