Bumiputera's premium hits Rp 758b in '96

JAKARTA (JP): Life insurance firm Bumiputera's premium income jumped 20 percent to Rp 758 billion (US$321 million) last year, the company said yesterday.

"We expect to increase the premium incomes to Rp 1 trillion this year," president director Suratno Hadisuwito said at a ceremony marking the company's 85th anniversary making it Indonesia's oldest life insurance firm.

Bumiputera paid Rp 330 billion in claims last year, up from Rp 271 billion in 1995.

Bumiputera's assets were worth Rp 1.7 trillion as of last year, up from Rp 1.5 trillion the year before. The company's held Rp 15.9 trillion in policies last year, up from 12.6 trillion the year before.

The company got 1.2 new policy holders last year, bringing the figure to 4.5 million. These include a million individual policy holders and 3.5 million group policy holders.

Bumiputera said the company had 30 branches in Indonesia, 616 service offices, 19,302 agents and 2,987 employees.

Suratno said Indonesia was potentially a big market for life insurance business because only 9 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people had policies.

About 56 companies, including 17 joint ventures between domestic and foreign firms, were competing in the life insurance industry, he said. (jsk)