Shinhan Life posts W419.4b in cumulative net profit through Q3, down 18.5% on year

Shinhan Life disclosed Tuesday that its cumulative net profit for the period through the third quarter of 2026 came to 419.4 billion won ($317 million), an 18.5 percent decline from the same period a year earlier.

According to a disclosure by Shinhan Financial, the insurer's net profit for the third quarter alone stood at 128.8 billion won, down 31.3 percent from the previous quarter's 187.5 billion won and 24.3 percent below the 170.2 billion won recorded in the same quarter last year.

The quarter-on-quarter decline was driven by widening actuarial experience variance losses and valuation losses on securities holdings, which weighed on insurance finance gains. Rising interest rates contributed to the securities valuation losses, and a change in actuarial guidelines was also cited as a factor reducing insurance-related profit for the group.

Cumulative annualized premium equivalent (APE) for the period totaled 1.15 trillion won, down 7.3 percent from 1.24 trillion won in the same period a year earlier. Protection-type APE fell 17.8 percent to 928.3 billion won, while savings and pension APE nearly doubled year-on-year, surging 99.0 percent to 220.9 billion won. Third-quarter APE reached 426.3 billion won, up 16.3 percent from 366.5 billion won in the previous quarter, with protection-type APE rising 20.7 percent to 344.8 billion won.

The contractual service margin (CSM), a key indicator of future profitability, reached a record 8.04 trillion won at the end of the third quarter, up 6.5 percent from 7.55 trillion won at the end of last year. The Korea Insurance Capital Standard (K-ICS) ratio stood at 204.6 percent on a preliminary basis, down 5.8 percentage points from 210.4 percent at the end of the previous quarter, but remained above the 200 percent threshold.

The combined net profit of Shinhan Financial's insurance segment — comprising Shinhan Life and Shinhan EZ Non-Life Insurance — totaled 391 billion won through the third quarter, a 19.8 percent drop from the same period a year earlier. Shinhan Financial plans to strengthen its insurance portfolio and expand its medium- to long-term earnings base through its 693.3 billion won acquisition of Lotte Non-Life Insurance.

"We are enhancing our future value through a strategy focused on sound, sustainable growth rather than short-term earnings," a Shinhan Life official said. "We are also maintaining solid capital adequacy, with our K-ICS ratio staying among the top tier in the industry."