Uneven profit growth highlights diverging fortunes across insurers

High profitability is what every company strives for, but this does not necessarily translate into quality growth, as revenue, claims, expenses and profits are moving at different paces.

PVI Holdings, the parent company of PVI Insurance, entered the second half of this year with a notable result: pre-tax profit in H1 approximated $49.6 million, equivalent to 99.7 per cent of its full-year target.

PVI's 2026 targets are consolidated revenue of $1.15 billion and pre-tax profit of $49.7 million. The profit target is about 15 per cent lower than the nearly $58.4 million recorded in 2025, while revenue is projected to remain virtually flat.

Revenue and profit growth mirrored in the share prices of insurance firms on the stock market. Photo: baodautu.vn

At its 2026 AGM in April, PVI's management said this year's business plan was formulated against a backdrop of continued uncertainties in the global economy, geopolitics and financial markets. After posting record profit in 2025, setting a more cautious target for 2026 is also a way to create room for PVI to continue outperforming its plan.

For PVI Insurance alone, the company’s revenue in H1 reached $686.6 million, while pre-tax profit stood at $40.2 million, equivalent to 63 per cent and 103.2 per cent, respectively, of the full-year targets.

At other insurance companies, Bao Minh Insurance Corporation posted more than $8.84 million in pre-tax profit in H1 of 2026, up 26 per cent on-year.

Military Insurance Corporation recorded pre-tax profit of $9.8 million, up 5.9 per cent on-year, while revenue grew more strongly, rising 32 per cent to $149.9 million.

OPES Insurance reported pre-tax profit of $24.5 million in H1 of 2026, nearly three times the figure recorded in the same period last year. In 2025, the company's profit reached $25.5 million, up 38 per cent from 2024.

According to OPES Insurance, the key driver behind the sharp increase in H1/2026 profit was gross written premium revenue of nearly $106.2 million, up 23.5 per cent, lifting its market share to 5.3 per cent and placing it among the seven leading non-life insurers in the market.

The growth momentum was supported by a strategy of digitalisation and the application of AI across the value chain, particularly in claims processing.

The Fast track and Eclaim platforms enable claims to be handled online; when all required documents are available, processing time can be reduced to around 30 minutes.

In contrast, BIDV Insurance Corporation (BIC) posted pre-tax profit of $11.5 million in H1, achieving only about 37 per cent of its full-year target.

Pressure came from claims expenses, while the company’s financial income was no longer supported by large realised gains from securities as in the same period last year.

Similarly, Post and Telecommunication Insurance Corporation saw profit fall by more than 15 per cent as claims expenses rose sharply.

At DBV Insurance, pre-tax profit in H1 reached only around $840,000, down 33 per cent on-year. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, the company’s management expenses rose 65 per cent to more than $6 million, narrowing profit despite positive financial performance.

Meanwhile, the business results of Bao Viet Group offer a different perspective. The group owns two insurance companies operating in both the life and non-life segments, Bao Viet Life and Bao Viet Insurance.

In the first half of the year, Bao Viet Group posted consolidated revenue of $1.28 billion, up 9.2 per cent on-year, while profit after tax increased 33.9 per cent to $74.5 million.

Bao Viet Insurance recorded revenue growth of more than 21 per cent, but profit after tax rose by only more than 5 per cent, highlighting a significant mismatch between revenue and profit growth.

This is also becoming an increasingly important issue for non-life insurers: premium growth is only one part of the equation. The ability to control claims, acquisition costs, reinsurance and investment efficiency ultimately determines the quality of that growth.

Vietcap Securities forecasts that the financial sector will remain increasingly differentiated in the second half of 2026. For the insurance sector, a higher interest-rate environment is expected to support investment income and profit growth among insurers.

Vietcap said that although the growth rate of gross written premiums may slow, insurers' profits could still grow strongly in 2026, supported by improvements in insurance business operations, higher financial income and reduced pressure from technical provisions amid rising interest rates.

According to economist Tran Nguyen Dan, behind the profit-growth figures, the important questions are not only how much profit has increased, but also where the increase has come from, whether it is sustainable, and whether each dollar of shareholders' capital is generating greater value.

“A company can grow by increasing premium revenue, capital and market share, but shareholders only become genuinely wealthier when the profit generated on that capital also rises accordingly,” he said.

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