Bintang eyes 19% hike in premium income

Bintang eyes 19% hike in premium income

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed general insurance company PT
Bintang Asuransi expects a total income of Rp 162.5 billion
(US$13.5 million) this year, an increase of 19 percent from last
year's Rp 136.6 billion.

Bintang president Ariyanti Suliyanto said the increase would
come partly from a continuing increase in its consumer or retail
market segment including vehicle, house and health insurances.

"We hope the consumer market will contribute about 17 percent
to our premium income this year from 13 percent in 2000," she
said after the company's annual shareholders meeting.

The consumer market segment started to contribute more after
Bintang launched vehicle and house insurance products called
Perisay Mobil Individual and Perisay Rumah Seisinya in 1999, she
said.

Bintang also launched Perisay Sehat Individual health
insurance this year in an effort to increase the company's
income.

Ariyanti said that although corporate clients still
contributed the largest portion of income, their total
contribution continued to decline due to low insurance rates,
especially for fire coverage, which had been under pressure due
to tight competition among local insurance companies.

"We only hope the rates will soon recover," she said.

At the meeting, shareholders also agreed to change the
composition of the board of commissioners and board of
executives.

Soedarpo Sastrosatomo was installed as chief commissioner of
the new board of commissioners, replacing Idham who will retire.

B. Munir Sjamsoeddin, Amir Abadi Yusuf, Indraningsih Wibowo
and Andy Roestam Moenaf were endorsed as the members of the board
of commissioners.

The shareholders retained Ariyanti Suliyanto as company
president and Djunaidi Mahari as director, but appointed Arizal
ER as another director to replace Muhammad Iqbal.

The shareholders also agreed to the management's proposal to
pay a cash dividend of Rp 70 per share during the meeting.(05)