Prudential BancBali expects lower sales

Prudential BancBali expects lower sales

JAKARTA (JP): Prudential BancBali Life (PBBL) projected on
Tuesday a lower premium income this year amid the expected
tighter competition in the life insurance market.

PBBL's vice president Tri Djoko Santoso said the total premium
income was estimated to increase by only 30 percent this year,
far less than the 200 percent increase recorded last year.

The company booked Rp 122.6 billion (US$17.5 million) in total
premium income last year, a jump by 200 percent from 1988's
result of Rp 37.4 billion.

"We are not aiming high this year. Business is unlikely to be
as robust as last year. We may have to compete head to head in
captivating customers in the banking sector which is predicted to
recover this year. We are ready to come up with interesting
investment products," he told a media briefing.

The company's president Shelton Chellappah said 1999's robust
growth particularly resulted from the successful sales of the
company's latest product, the PRUlink Investor Account.

He said the product was an investment vehicle for life
insurance which allowed customers to set their own investment
choice and determine the level of their life insurance
protection.

"We collected Rp 55 billion in new premium income from the
PRUlink product six months after the launching in mid-1999," he
said, adding that the total number of PBBL's policy holders had
reached 17,000 as of December last year.

The company would launch another product this year which wis
similar to the latest investment tool, PRUlink, he said without
elaborating. (cst)