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Hanwha General Insurance (000370) 🔎 In-depth

KOSPI · Price as of 2026-07-09 · Updated 2026-07-10

Hanwha General Insurance is a non-life insurer whose main business is long-term protection-type policies covering cancer, illness and injury, alongside auto and general insurance. It earns money from underwriting profit (premiums collected less claims and expenses) and from investment income generated by managing its asset pool, and it has recently improved the quality of its earnings by cutting low-margin products and growing higher-margin protection contracts. Its May first-quarter preliminary results and quarterly report showed record new-business CSM for the period and improved capital strength, while the dividend has not resumed, partly due to the burden of setting aside surrender-value reserves, leaving the dividend metrics blank. What stands out is that the share price is among the lowest in its peer group relative to earnings and assets, and CSM (a reservoir of future profit) is building up thickly, but auto insurance loss ratios and pricing remain a swing factor for profitability, the lack of a dividend limits shareholder-return appeal, and quarterly earnings can fluctuate with investment income and actuarial assumptions.

At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation

Financial healthModerate
  • For financial companies, debt and interest costs are large by the nature of the business, so the debt ratio and interest coverage cannot be read on the same yardstick as an ordinary company.
GrowthSlowing
  • Revenue rose 0.2% year over year, and the pace is slowing (3-year trend: rising).
  • Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 26.6% higher than a year earlier.
ProfitabilityHealthy
  • ROE is 11.2% (controlling-interest basis). It is above the sector average.
  • Operating margin is 41.8%.
ValuationUndervalued
  • The forward P/E sits below the sector median.

Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31

Largest shareholder Hanwha Life Insurance 100% (corporate)

Controlling bloc incl. related parties 100%

With the controlling bloc holding 100%, control is very secure but the free float is thin.

🔎 In-depth analysis

🏢Business
  • Hanwha General Insurance is a non-life insurer that covers accidents affecting people and property.
  • It makes money in three main ways.
  • First is long-term protection insurance covering cancer, illness and injury, the area the company pushes hardest, where it has grown products aimed at women and seniors in particular.
  • Second is auto insurance, which has a large customer base but a high loss ratio, so managing its profitability is the key challenge.
  • Third is general insurance such as fire and liability cover.
  • An insurer's profit comes largely from two streams: underwriting profit (premiums received from policyholders less claims and expenses) and investment income earned by managing accumulated assets.
  • Recently the company has reshaped its business toward higher earnings quality by cutting low-margin products and growing higher-margin protection contracts.
📈Price & chart
  • The latest closing price is ₩5,600 and the market capitalization is ₩653.7 billion.
  • The price sits below its 20-day line (₩6,148) and below its 60-day line (₩6,469).
  • Trading beneath both the short- and medium-term moving averages, the trend is somewhat subdued.
  • The RSI (a supplementary gauge that measures upward versus downward force over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 39.2, a neutral level.
  • The one-month change is -11.4%, the three-month change is -10.5%, and the position versus the 52-week high is -39.8%.
  • Relative strength against the KOSPI is 28 (on a 1-99 scale that converts return versus the index over the past year, weighting recent performance more heavily; higher means stronger than the market).
  • That places it in roughly the top 72% of all stocks by strength.
  • Over the past three months it has lagged the index by 31.4%.
  • Chart reading is best done alongside trading volume and disclosure dates.
📊Key metrics
  • Valuation metrics dominate the first impression of this company.
  • The P/E ratio (how many times one year's earnings the price represents) is 2.19x and the P/B (how many times book net assets) is 0.24x.
  • Both are among the lowest in the non-life insurance sector.
  • ROE (how much is earned in a year on shareholders' equity) is 11.2%, so profitability relative to equity is reasonably sound.
  • The net margin is 29.1%.
  • The debt ratio looks very high at 768%, but risk should not be judged from that number alone.
  • Insurers book reserves for claims to be paid to policyholders later as accounting 'liabilities,' so large reported liabilities are a normal feature of the business model.
  • Reading the debt ratio with the same yardstick as manufacturers is misleading.
  • An insurer's soundness should be judged by its solvency ratio (K-ICS), not the debt ratio, and the company states this ratio comfortably exceeds the regulator's advised threshold.
🚀Growth
  • The appearance and the substance of top-line growth differ.
  • Annual revenue rose just 0.2% year on year, so it looks stagnant, but revenue in the latest quarter (Q1 2026) was up 26.6% from the same period a year earlier.
  • Net profit in that same quarter, by contrast, fell 16.5%.
  • The reason for the decline is the key point.
  • In Q1 last year a large one-off gain from an accounting-guideline change was recognized, and this year is being compared against that high base.
  • In other words, the drop is not because the business deteriorated but because the comparison base was unusually high.
  • The true direction of growth lies in a different metric.
  • A non-life insurer's future profit is held in the 'contractual service margin (CSM),' a reservoir of profit to be recognized as earnings over time.
  • This CSM has built up to the ₩4 trillion range, and the margin on newly written contracts (new-business CSM) set a record for the quarter.
  • The CSM accumulating now unwinds into earnings over many years.
  • Taking the one-off base burden into account, this year's net profit can therefore be seen as roughly similar to, or slightly above, last year's.
  • Reading only trailing (last year's) earnings and concluding that growth has stalled would miss the future profit that CSM has stored up.
📰Recent news & filings
  • Recent disclosures center on regular results and shareholding filings.
  • In May, Q1 preliminary results were released via fair disclosure, followed by the quarterly report.
  • These materials confirm that new-business CSM set a record for the quarter and that capital-strength indicators improved.
  • Across May and June there were several filings on changes in holdings by executives and major shareholders, which are of a routine ownership-reporting nature.
  • At the end of May, a large-enterprise-group status disclosure was filed, providing a regular update of group affiliate information.
  • Meanwhile the dividend has not resumed, partly due to the burden of setting aside surrender-value reserves, which is also why the dividend metrics are blank.
  • Auto insurance is an area where several years of premium cuts have left a profitability burden, so whether rates are adjusted is a point to watch going forward.
🧭Bottom line
  • The strengths are clear.
  • The share price is among the lowest in its peer group relative to earnings and assets, and CSM, the reservoir of future profit, keeps building up thickly.
  • A structural improvement toward higher earnings quality, centered on higher-margin protection products, is also underway.
  • The cautions are equally clear.
  • Auto insurance loss ratios and pricing remain a swing factor for profitability.
  • With no dividend, shareholder-return appeal is still limited.
  • Insurer earnings can fluctuate quarter to quarter with investment income and changes in actuarial assumptions, so a view that does not overreact to any single quarter's number is warranted.
  • In short, if protection-type new business and CSM accumulation stay on track and auto insurance profitability stabilizes, there is considerable room for the valuation gap to close; conversely, if loss ratios worsen or capital-reserving burdens grow, earnings volatility could come to the fore.

🔎 Valuation vs peers Undervalued

Compared against domestic listed non-life insurers with similar business structures and product lines.

PeerP/EP/BROE
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance13.76x1.31x9.49%
DB Insurance5.55x0.91x16.43%
Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance3.01x0.60x19.77%

Against non-life insurance peers the positioning is clear. Samsung Fire & Marine trades at a P/E of 13.6x and P/B of 1.29x, DB Insurance at 5.3x and 0.88x, and Hyundai Marine & Fire at 3.0x and 0.60x. Hanwha General Insurance, at a P/E of 2.3x and P/B of 0.26x, is the lowest of these. It is being valued at only about a quarter of its net assets relative to equity. Behind the discount are the absence of a dividend and the profitability burden of auto insurance. That said, gauging the valuation on last year's net profit alone is misleading. The Q1 decline in net profit this year is due to the high base of a prior-year one-off gain, and CSM, the reservoir of future profit, is in fact building up thickly. Even on a forward basis the P/E stays at a low level. If the conditions of a resumed dividend and improved auto insurance profitability are met, there is room for this low multiple to normalize.

₩5,600 -2.95%
Market cap $433.3M

Price history Close · MA20 · MA60

Close MA20MA60

The latest close is ₩5,600 and the market capitalization is ₩653.7 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩6,148) and below its 60-day moving average (₩6,469). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 39.2, a neutral level. The one-month change is -11.4%, the three-month change is -10.5%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -39.8%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 28 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 28% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 31.4%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.

Relative performance stock vs index · start = 100

28Relative strength vs KOSPI1–99 · last 12 months’ return vs the index, recency-weighted · higher = stronger than the marketTop 72% strength

Excess return vs index · 3M -31.36% / 6M -38.27% / 12M -57.94%

StockKOSPI

Key metrics vs sector median

Valuation

P/E (trailing)2.19x
Forward P/E2.11x
P/B0.24x
P/S0.63x
EPS₩2,561
BPS (book value/share)₩22,868
Dividend yield—
DPS—

The P/E of 2.19x is below the sector median (5.37x). The P/B of 0.24x is below the sector median (0.88x). Both metrics are low versus peers, so the price is not expensive relative to earnings and assets.

Profitability & financials

ROE11.20%
Operating margin41.81%
Net margin29.10%
Debt ratio767.65%
Payout ratio—

Return on equity (ROE) is 11.2%, in line with the sector average (11.0%). The operating margin is 41.8%. The debt ratio is 767.6%, but for financial firms deposits and insurance liabilities count as debt, so it cannot be read on the same yardstick as an ordinary company.

Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)

Item202320242025YoY
Revenue$549.9M$679.2M$680.9M+0.25% ↓ slower
Operating profit$203.2M$288.8M$284.7M-1.41% ↓ slower
Net profit$163.9M$227.3M$198.2M-12.82% ↓ slower
5-year20212022202320242025
Revenue——$549.9M$679.2M$680.9M
Operating profit——$203.2M$288.8M$284.7M
Net profit——$163.9M$227.3M$198.2M
Revenue CAGR2-yr avg 11.28%

Revenue rose 0.2% year over year (2023 ₩829.7 billion → 2024 ₩1.0 trillion → 2025 ₩1.0 trillion), and the three-year trend is 'rising'. That said, the pace of growth slowed from the prior year. Operating profit fell 1.4% year over year. The decline widened. Over the 3 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 11.3%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 11.3%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 26.6% higher than the same period a year earlier.

Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago

Revenue$235.8M
Revenue YoY+26.60%
Operating profit$90.1M
Op. profit YoY-21.40%
Net profit$70.6M
Net profit YoY-16.51%

Technical indicators

RSI (14)39.2
MA20₩6,148
MA60₩6,469
1-month-11.39%
3-month-10.54%
vs 52-wk high-39.78%

What stands out

  • P/E and P/B are both low versus peers, so the price looks inexpensive relative to earnings and assets.
  • ROE of 11.2% points to solid profitability.

Points to watch

  • Revenue rose 0.2% year over year, and the pace is slowing (3-year trend: rising).

Recent news & events searched · sourced

Figure cross-check computed ↔ external

MetricComputedExternalStatusSource
P/E ratio / P/B ratioPER 2.28x / PBR 0.26x—Confirmedlink
2025 revenue growth (YoY)+0.2%—Confirmedlink
Q1 2026 net profit YoY-16.5%—Confirmedlink
2026 net profit estimateapprox. ₩310.0 billion(self-estimate)—Unverifiedlink

Recent filings

📖 Plain-language glossary — expand if you are new to this
P/E
How many times a year's net profit the price is worth (lower is cheaper relative to earnings). The P/E here is on trailing (last full-year) results; for companies whose earnings swing fast (memory chips and other cyclicals/high-growth), a forward P/E on this year's expected earnings is more accurate.
P/B
Price relative to net assets (equity). Around 1x means it trades near book value; below 1x means below book.
P/S
Price relative to a year's revenue — useful for growth companies with thin earnings.
Net debt / EV
Net debt = interest-bearing debt − cash. Negative means more cash than debt (net cash). EV (enterprise value) = market cap + net debt, closer to what it would cost to buy the whole business.
EV/EBIT · EV/EBITDA · EV/Sales
Enterprise value against operating profit (EBIT), EBITDA, or revenue. Unlike P/E these reflect debt and cash; lower is cheaper relative to earnings power or sales.
FCF / FCF yield
Free cash flow = operating cash − capex, the cash actually left over. FCF yield = FCF ÷ market cap; higher means more cash generated per unit of market value.
Intrinsic value (DCF)
Future free cash flow (or, for some capex-heavy but profitable names, forecast earnings) discounted to today to estimate per-share value. Because it shifts a lot with the discount-rate and growth assumptions, it is shown as a bear/base/bull range, and the basis and assumptions are disclosed in one line beneath it.
ROE
How much profit the company earns in a year on its equity (%). Higher means better returns on capital.
EPS / BPS
Earnings per share / net assets (book value) per share.
Operating / net margin
Profit left from the core business / final profit after tax and interest, per unit of revenue.
Debt ratio
Debt relative to equity (%). Higher means more reliance on borrowing (norms vary by sector).
Current ratio
Assets convertible to cash within a year against debt due within a year. Above 100% leaves some short-term headroom.
Interest coverage
How many times operating profit covers the interest owed. Below 1x means operating profit alone struggles to cover interest.
Dividend yield / payout ratio
The year's dividend as a % of today's price / the share of earnings paid out as dividends.
Revenue CAGR
Multi-year growth expressed as a single yearly average (compound annual growth rate).
RSI (short-term signal)
Whether recent price action is overheated or beaten down. Above 70 is overbought, below 30 oversold.
MA20 / MA60 (moving averages)
The 20- and 60-day average price. Price above them signals a firmer short-term trend.
vs 52-week high
How far below the past year's peak the price sits now (%).

All figures are for reference only; how they read varies by sector and over time.

Sources: Korea FSC market-price API (data.go.kr), OpenDART, KRX/KIND — public data only.

Bong Stocks presents public-data-based information for reference only. It is not investment advice and contains no target prices, ratings, or buy/sell recommendations. Verify independently before making any decision.

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