Gibraltar Life Insurance Co., the successor of failed Kyoei Life Insurance Co., said Monday it posted unconsolidated net profits of 12.9 billion yen for the 2001 business year.
Kyoei Life was acquired by Prudential Insurance Company of America and reborn as Gibraltar Life on April 3, 2001. This is its first earnings report.
Company officials attributed Gibraltar's solid performance to fewer-than-expected cancellations or lapses of insurance policy contracts by Kyoei Life customers.
The officials added that the number of newly contracted policies showed growth in the latter half of 2001.
To strengthen its sales and service ability, Gibraltar Life will increase the number of sales division employees to 10,000 from 6,000 by hiring between 1,000 and 1,500 workers each year over the next three to four years, they said.
As of March 31, Gibraltar held some 26.95 trillion yen worth of insurance policy contracts including individual life insurance policies.
Its solvency margin -- a key index gauging an insurer's ability to pay claims -- stands at 1,099.3 percent, well over the 200 percent level considered a warning of possible financial instability.
Kyoei Life effectively went under on Oct. 20, 2000, when it filed for court protection from its creditors under a mountain of bad loans.