Tune Ins net profit down 14.38% in Q1

PETALING JAYA: Tune Ins Holdings Bhd's (TIH) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q1 FY15) fell 14.38% to RM16.48 million from RM19.25 million a year ago mainly due to a one-off gain on disposal of RM4.3 million a year ago.
Revenue for Q1 FY15 fell 2.37% to RM111.25 million due to a decrease of RM4.2 million in gross earned premiums.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said its net earned premium grew 2.8% in Q1 FY15 to RM66 million.
Its CEO Junior Cho said the bulk of its net profit was contributed by its travel business while overseas ventures contributions from Tune Insurance Public Company Ltd and Tune Protect Commercial Brokerage LLC stood at 5.2%.
"At the start of the year, we faced softness in travel within Asean due to the unfortunate QZ8501 incident but have seen a steady recovery towards the tail end of Q1 FY15," he said.
The company expects to maintain strong growth in its global travel business as the travel market continues to rebound.
It continues to diversify sales contribution from its airlines partnerships, with non-AirAsia partnerships now contributing 8% of the travel portfolio, compared with 2% a year ago.
It expects its Malaysian operations to deliver improved underwriting margins as it sees less strain from new business growth in the coming months.
Its Indonesian acquisition is also on track, following the execution of a conditional binding offer (CBO) executed earlier this month with PT Asuransi Staco Mandiri and its shareholders.
"On where we are Q2 FY15, we advanced further on our Indonesian acquisition by announcing the execution of the CBO, and we also anticipate the transaction to be completed within the next few months.
"In addition, we are also in discussion with several airlines and non-airline companies on forming strategic partnerships. I am confident that with our core businesses performing to plan and with new partnerships in the making, TIH will maintain its growth trajectory for FY15," said Cho.