Technical delays led to both ‘successful and challenging’ 2023 – LifeStar Chairman and Acting CEO

LifeStar Insurance Group Chairman Paolo Catalfamo and Acting CEO Roberto Apap Bologna have stated that repeated delays in the publication of its Annual Report made 2023 both a successful and challenging year for the group.

On Tuesday (today), LifeStar Insurance Group released its Annual Report for the financial year ended 31st December 2023. This comes after the group reported a number of technical delays in the implementation and integration of third-party software for the computation of financial statements under the IFRS 17 standard. The publication of the report had to be pushed back twice.

This new standard, which came into effect at the start of 2023, details how insurance contracts items should be reported, how to measure them, and how to present information.

As a result of these changes, LifeStar Insurance had to reassess its 2022 results to be aligned with IFRS 17.

These issues have now been resolved, prompting LifeStar Insurance to publish its Annual Report for the year, over two months later than is usually the case for companies which have their financial year coinciding with the calendar year.

LifeStar Insurance Group posted strong insurance revenue at €5.6 million, increasing marginally from 2022’s €5.5 million. Net investment income was one of the main drivers of profitability, going from a negative €11.2 million in 2022 to a positive €7.9 million in 2023. This was primarily a result of a net fair value gain of €6.3 million on investments (2022: €12.2 million loss). Administrative expenses also increased by 29.1 per cent to €5.8 million (2022: €4.6 million).

LifeStar Insurance Group’s total assets as at the end of 2023 amounted to €145.2 million, expanding steadily from the €135.5 million reported at the end of 2022.

In a joint statement commenting on the results, Prof. Catalfamo and Mr Apap Bologna said that in 2023, mandated changes in reporting standards to IFRS 17 were a particular challenge, with the company having to restate 2022 under this new standard.

“The company planned the move well in advance and, in 2021 it purchased the best-in-class software system: the IFRS 17 Analyser from Oracle. Unfortunately, we suffered a vendor failure after one year and we had to engage another Oracle Partner to proceed with the implementation,” they said.

They added that due to this provider change and technical challenges due to the volume of data having to be reconfigured in a new and untested environment, “a series of delays were cumulated,” resulting in the late publication of the financial statements.

“The management is now confident that such delays will not be experienced in the future,” Prof. Catalfamo and Mr Apap Bologna stated.

They clarified that the new standard saw the elimination of the value of in-force business, the technical provisions and the re-insurance’s share of technical provisions, being replaced by reinsurance contracts assets, insurance contract liabilities, and investment contract liabilities.

These changes prompted a notable increase in retained earnings, going up to €14.5 million in 2023 from an IFRS 4 position in 2022 of €5.8 million. This change is significant because most of the retained earnings are distributable reserves as these are mainly due to releases from the technical provisions that existed under the IFRS 4 standard.

A number of challenges brought by complex geopolitical scenarios such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East were also noted, particularly given different monetary policies applied across Europe to curb rising inflation.

“Acknowledging the economic headwinds, LifeStar continued to overcome the challenges and fostered growth in the different areas of the business. The company also confirms that it has met its solvency capital requirements throughout the year under review,” the pair continued.

Looking ahead, Prof. Catalfamo and Mr Apap Bologna said that 2024 is expected to be “another very promising year” that is set to see the company’s “expansion to other markets and a substantial growth in revenue.”

“LifeStar Insurance remains an attractive and reliable investment, even in times of great uncertainty and change,” they concluded.

LifeStar Insurance Group, formerly Global Capital, is a group of companies which provide insurance products in Malta, offering a range of protection, savings, investment, and retirement life insurance products. It is comprised of LifeStar Insurance plc and LifeStar Health Limited.