[비즈한국] DB Insurance005830 is seeing its status decline as it yields the second-place spot in net profit within the non-life insurance industry to Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance000060. DB Insurance has been focusing on expanding its external reach, recently completing the acquisition of the American insurance company Potegra. However, when limited to the domestic market, evaluations suggest that reclaiming the second-place spot will not be easy due to Meritz Fire & Marine's aggressive offensives. The term of Jung Jong-pyo, CEO of DB Insurance, ends in March next year. If the company records a lower net profit than Meritz Fire & Marine again this year, his reappointment is expected to be difficult.
DB Insurance had maintained the second-place ranking in net profit among domestic non-life insurers. In 2024, the top spot for separate net profit was held by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance000810 with 2.0478 trillion KRW, while second-place DB Insurance recorded a net profit of 1.7722 trillion KRW at the time. However, a change occurred in the rankings entering 2025. While Samsung Fire & Marine held onto the top spot, Meritz Fire & Marine captured second place by recording a net profit of 1.6810 trillion KRW. DB Insurance slid to third place with a net profit of 1.5349 trillion KRW in 2025.
Of course, in terms of consolidated net profit, DB Insurance still outperformed Meritz Fire & Marine last year. However, as DB Insurance's performance dropped in the first quarter of this year, it also recorded a lower consolidated net profit than Meritz Fire & Marine. The consolidated net profits for DB Insurance and Meritz Fire & Marine in the first quarter of this year were 239.6 billion KRW and 470.8 billion KRW, respectively.
This is expected to have a negative impact on the evaluation of DB Insurance CEO Jung Jong-pyo. Jung was appointed CEO of DB Insurance in January 2023 and succeeded in being reappointed in March 2024. His term runs until March 2027.
While some in the financial sector anticipate a third consecutive term for CEO Jung Jong-pyo, it cannot be guaranteed as DB Insurance's performance has recently declined. DB Insurance's consolidated net profit fell 44.46% from 431.4 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year to 239.6 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. Regarding the decline in first-quarter performance this year, a DB Insurance representative stated, "Insurance underwriting profit was sluggish due to the impact of a one-time large-scale accident."
Unlike DB Insurance, rival Meritz Fire & Marine is on an upward trend. Meritz Fire & Marine's consolidated net profit increased 1.07% from 465.9 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year to 470.8 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. While it is difficult to say that performance has grown explosively, the situation is better than that of DB Insurance, which saw a decline in net profit. If this performance trend continues, CEO Jung Jong-pyo will inevitably be compared to Meritz Fire & Marine.
Moreover, the outlook for DB Insurance is not entirely positive. Daishin Securities003540 recently lowered its target price for DB Insurance from 200,000 KRW to 173,000 KRW. Park Hye-jin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "Since there were significant one-time factors in the first quarter of this year, it is expected to stabilize somewhat from the second quarter," but added, "However, the fact that the loss ratio is continuously rising due to an increase in claims for 3rd and 4th generation indemnity medical expenses and surgical costs is a cause for concern."
Kim Sun-joo, a lead researcher at Korea Ratings, also explained regarding DB Insurance, "With uncertainty in the real economy and financial markets persisting, the possibility of a decline in profitability has increased," adding, "There is an inherent possibility of increased loan loss provisions for project financing (PF) and valuation losses on beneficiary certificates, given the high proportion of real estate-related exposure."
Amidst this, DB Insurance completed the acquisition of a 100% stake in the American insurance company 'Potegra' this past May. DB Insurance spent approximately 2.3 trillion KRW on this acquisition. According to DB Insurance, Potegra's net profit last year was about 2 trillion KRW. DB Insurance has acquired a company larger than itself in terms of net profit scale. If Potegra continues to perform as it has been, DB Insurance's consolidated net profit is expected to rise significantly. DB Insurance stated, "Through this acquisition, we have entered the U.S. and Europe—the world's largest non-life insurance markets—in earnest, secured a business platform for global growth, and expect to enhance earnings stability through risk diversification across countries and insurance lines."
However, there is no guarantee that it will outperform Meritz Fire & Marine on a separate basis. Meritz Fire & Marine has recently been targeting the domestic market by releasing various insurance products. Furthermore, according to the Financial Supervisory Service's Financial Statistics Information System, as of the end of last year, Meritz Fire & Marine and DB Insurance had 44,089 and 20,858 exclusive agents, respectively. While DB Insurance's number of exclusive agents is not low, the gap is more than double when compared to Meritz Fire & Marine. Having more agents naturally leads to higher sales capability.
Meritz Fire & Marine's aggressive targeting of the domestic market is also evident in its growth rate of exclusive agents. The number of Meritz Fire & Marine's exclusive agents increased 34.98% from 32,663 at the end of 2024 to 44,089 at the end of 2025. Over the same period, the number of DB Insurance's exclusive agents only increased by 3.98%, from 20,060 to 20,858.
As Meritz Fire & Marine shows such an aggressive stance in capturing the domestic market, projections suggest they will continue to outperform DB Insurance on a separate basis this year. Even if DB Insurance outperforms Meritz Fire & Marine in consolidated net profit, if it falls behind in separate net profit, its status in the domestic market will inevitably decline. In this case, it is expected to act as a negative factor for CEO Jung Jong-pyo's reappointment.
A DB Insurance representative stated while announcing the first-quarter performance, "We plan to expand profits by continuously implementing measures to improve profitability." CEO Jung Jong-pyo also emphasized the importance of the domestic market in his New Year's address this year, stating, "There is a limit to expanding growth in overseas markets without stable growth and a profit base in the domestic market." The financial sector's attention is focused on whether DB Insurance can overcome these concerns and grow in the domestic market as well.