Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is soaring as strong earnings and shareholder return expectations combine. It recorded a 52-week high during the session.
As of 10:14 AM on the 16th, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance was trading at 364,000 KRW, up 27,500 KRW (8.17%) from the previous close. During the session, it rose to 375,000 KRW, setting a new 52-week high.
On the 14th, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance announced that its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of this year was 702 billion KRW, a 14.6% increase compared to the same period last year. This is the highest quarterly level ever recorded. Operating profit for the same period rose 7.8% to 897.1 billion KRW, and sales increased 3.1% to 5.5068 trillion KRW.
Along with the earnings announcement, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance stated that it plans a medium- to long-term shareholder return ratio of 50.0% and will consider various options such as cash dividends, share buybacks, and cancellations.
Ji-Young Kim, a researcher at Kyobo Securities, said about Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, "It is encouraging that despite the introduction of the new accounting standards and the new solvency regime (K-ICS), the company is demonstrating industry-leading performance and ratios. The announcement of the medium- to long-term capital policy (utilizing excess capital for shareholder returns and capital investments) raises expectations for a stock price increase due to a rise in shareholder return ratio." Kyobo Securities raised Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's target price from 300,000 KRW to 410,000 KRW.
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