Context: How Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador works, and what it makes issuers disclose · El Salvador on the LatAm Power Map
A 50-year-old Salvadoran insurer that changed its name, changed hands, and doubled its premiums in two years — all while briefly slipping into a regulatory capital shortfall it then fixed with a cash injection from its parent.
| Full name | Protege Seguros, S.A. (formerly Aseguradora Popular, S.A.) |
|---|---|
| Ticker / exchange | PROTEGE.SV — Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador |
| Headquarters | Torre Millennium Plaza, Nivel 16, Paseo General Escalón #3675, San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Sector | Insurance (life, general, surety, reinsurance) |
| Employees | Not disclosed in available sources |
| Total assets | $5.1M (year-end 2024) |
| Yearly revenue (ingresos) | $3.0M (year-end 2024) |
| Net result | –$0.625M loss (year-end 2024) |
| Net margin | –20.8% (our calculation) |
| Return on average equity (ROAE) | –22.3% |
| Return on average assets (ROAA) | –12.4% |
| Price-to-earnings | Not applicable (loss-making); market price not disclosed in available sources |
| Dividend yield | Not disclosed in available sources |
| Website | protegeseguros.com.sv |
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What it is
Founded on 11 December 1975 as Aseguradora Popular, S.A. — later renamed Protege Seguros, S.A. — the company is licensed to write every main class of insurance: life, property and casualty, surety bonds, reinsurance, co-insurance, and co-suretyship.
It is regulated by El Salvador’s Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero (SSF) and is listed on the Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador; its offices sit on the 16th floor of Millennium Plaza, Paseo General Escalón, San Salvador. By any measure it is a small player: total assets of $5.1M put it well below the largest names in El Salvador’s 23-insurer market.
Who owns it
Inversiones y Valores Comerciales, S.A. de C.V. — known as Invalcomer — acquired 197,729 shares representing 98.8644% of the capital from the previous owners; the SSF authorised the name change to Protege Seguros on 28 October 2022, and it was registered in the Commerce Registry on 16 November 2022.
Zumma Ratings notes that the company benefits commercially from potential synergies with the group’s financial arm, SAC Credicomer, S.A., which holds the same EA-.sv credit rating. The remaining ~1.1% of shares is held by minority shareholders not individually disclosed in available sources.
Who runs it
The board president listed by the SSF is Rigoberto Antonio Conde González, reachable at the Millennium Plaza headquarters. No separate CEO, CFO, or general-manager name is disclosed in available public sources beyond the board president.
The money, in plain words
The business brought in $3.0M in total income in 2024 and lost $0.625M — a net loss margin of –20.8% (our calculation), meaning it spent about $1.21 for every dollar it earned. Zumma Ratings reviewed audited financial statements through 31 December 2024 and confirmed those results.
Net premium income grew 50% in 2024, compared with the sector’s 6.6% gain, which is a real commercial achievement for a company this size. The problem is that growth in premiums also forces an insurer to hold more regulatory capital — and Protege was not generating enough profit to build that buffer organically.
The combined ratio — the share of each premium dollar eaten up by claims and running costs combined — stood at 125.3% at year-end 2024, against a sector average of 88.8%. Anything above 100% means an insurer pays out more in claims and expenses than it collects in premiums; Protege was paying out $1.25 for every $1.00 of premium, absorbing the shortfall from investment income and, ultimately, from its owner’s pocket.
Liquidity — liquid assets relative to obligations — slid to 1.3 times at year-end 2024, down from 2.0 times a year earlier. The sustained growth in premiums across 2023 and 2024 strengthened technical reserves but simultaneously raised the regulatory capital and balance-sheet demands on the company.
What it is doing now
At an Extraordinary General Meeting on 21 February 2024, shareholders agreed to a $226,092 capital increase drawn from retained earnings; the SSF formally approved this in July 2024 to comply with new minimum-capital rules.
In February 2025, shareholders injected a further $700,000 in cash, absorbing the accumulated losses of 2023 and 2024 and restoring the company’s regulatory solvency margin — which moved from a deficit of –3.07% back into positive territory at 13.4%. The most recent credit rating from Zumma Ratings (April 2025) is EA-.sv with a stable outlook, reflecting good payment capacity but some remaining vulnerability.
What to watch
- Combined ratio trend. Bringing the 125.3% combined ratio toward the sector’s ~89% average is the single biggest lever to returning to profit; watch for quarterly siniestralidad (claims ratio) disclosures.
- Solvency headroom. Continued premium growth raises capital requirements; if the owner does not match growth with equity, another shortfall is possible.
- Credicomer synergies. The ties to SAC Credicomer — the group’s consumer-finance arm — are cited as a strategic strength; cross-selling insurance to Credicomer’s borrowers is the clearest path to fast, low-cost premium volume.
- Regulatory capital floor. El Salvador raised the minimum capital for general insurers to $2,726,094 effective 1 January 2024; any further regulatory increase would require additional owner support.
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Sources
- Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador — issuer profile for Protege Seguros, S.A.: bolsadevalores.com.sv
- Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero de El Salvador — authorised insurance entities registry (last updated June 2026): ssf.gob.sv
- Zumma Ratings, S.A. de C.V. — Ordinary Classification Committee Report, Protege Seguros, S.A., 4 April 2025 (audited financials to 31 December 2024): zummaratings.com
- Market data: EODHD.
This is news, not investment advice.
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