Pre-tax profits at the country’s second largest health insurance provider, Laya Healthcare last year surged by 30 per cent to €28.85m.
New accounts filed by Laya Healthcare Ltd with the Companies Office show that the company recorded the sharp increase in profits as revenues rose by 12 per cent from €79.99 million to €89.56 million.
During the year, pre-tax profits increased by €6.6 million from €22.17 million to €28.85 million.
The health insurer increased its profits and revenues last year on the back of increased subscribers and also two average premium rate hikes last year.
The firm raised its premiums by an average of 2.3 per cent from June 2021 and this followed Laya premiums going up by an average of 2.9 per cent in January 2021. A small number of plans increased by more than 10 per cent in January.
On the imposition of the second rise, the company said at the time that the volume and cost of claims in Ireland’s private and hi-tech hospitals continue to rise with activity levels almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The profits allowed the company to pay a dividend of €20m during the year and this followed a dividend payout of €20 million in 2020 and a further €20 million in 2019.
The directors state that there were a number of factors contributing to another year of profitable results for the company including Laya’s continued growth within the Irish market which saw the membership base grow to over 635,000 members in 2021, representing a 27 per cent market share - up by one point on 2020.
The directors state that the firm’s Health and Wellness services "also saw growth during the year, through the expansion of products and offerings to both our corporate and individual members".
On the impact of Covid-19, the directors state that “throughout the pandemic, the health insurance market has remained resilient with numbers insured in the country increasing during this period to 2.37 million or 47.1 per cent of the population".
Numbers employed by Laya at Cork and Dublin increased from 572 to 603 in 2021 with wage costs increasing from €33.8 per cent to €35.3 per cent.
Directors’ pay last year totalled €1.58 million that includes directors’ salaries of €1.43 million, fees of €70,000 and pension contributions of €76,186.
The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €4.92 million.
The company’s accumulated profits totalled €44.3 million at the end of December last. The firm’s cash pile declined from €60.7 million to €57.42m
The company recorded post tax profits of €24.96 million after paying out corporation tax of €3.88 million.
