[E-Daily Reporter Hyera Lee ] On the 16th, DaishinSecurities projected that SamsungFire&MarineInsurance(000810)would post its best quarterly earnings since the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17. The firm raised its target price from 620,000 won to 870,000 won and designated the stock as its top pick in the sector.

Park Hye-jin, an analyst at DaishinSecurities, stated, “Second-quarter net income is expected to reach an all-time high since 2023, driven by strong performance in both insurance and investment gains,” adding, “Considering the recovery in core business profitability, the value of its stake in E-Land, and dividend income, we designate it as our top pick in the sector.”
Analyst Park projected that second-quarter net income attributable to controlling shareholders would reach 708.9 billion won, an increase of 11.7% from the previous quarter and 11.2% year-over-year. She analyzed, “Insurance profitability is improving as both the risk loss ratio and the auto insurance loss ratio decline, and increased investment gains driven by rising interest rates and a bull market will also support earnings.”
In particular, he anticipated that profitability in long-term insurance would continue to improve. Analyst Park noted, “Profit from long-term insurance is expected to reach 451.8 billion won, up 2.7% from the previous quarter and 9.1% year-over-year,” adding, “The loss ratio for auto insurance is also expected to continue improving due to the effects of last year’s premium rate hikes.”
Analyst Park highlighted that manual therapy was designated as a managed benefit starting this month. He assessed, “With this designation, a further decline in the loss ratio is expected in the second half of the year,” adding, “Profitability indicators for both long-term insurance and auto insurance are bottoming out.”
Investment income is also projected to reach 390 billion won—a 7.6% increase from the previous quarter and a 10% increase year-over-year—driven by higher interest income due to rising interest rates, valuation gains from a rising stock market, and an expansion in equity method income from Canopus.
He also addressed the plan to modernize actuarial assumptions, which had been highlighted as a cause for concern. Analyst Park said, “As the effects of new policies and renewed policies offset each other, the impact of adjustments to the contract margin (CSM) will be limited.”