Arab Insurance Group Swings To Quarterly Profit

Improved performance under its reinsurance portfolio and healthy investment returns saw Arab Insurance Group (Arig) bounce back into the black in the first nine months of the year.

Arig earned a net profit of $10.3 million against a loss of $11.5 million last time, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The comparatively benign current year claims experience under the company’s non-life book and a corresponding combined ratio of 92.4 per cent produced net underwriting returns of $8.3 million for the nine months compared with a net loss of $7.9 million in the comparative period last year.

At the same time, gross premiums written reduced by 12 per cent to $ 209.4 million, mostly as a result of decreased income from territories subject to UN sanctions or political turmoil, and clients struggling to reach their business targets within a highly price competitive market environment.

Investment income of $16 million for the three quarters was sharply up against the previous year’s $200,000, representing an annualised average return of 3.3 per cent on invested assets.

Arig’s net operating result for the third quarter of this year alone represented a profit of $6.5 million, compared with a loss of $7.4 million for the corresponding period.

Shareholders’ equity increased to $241.9 million while book value per share climbed to $1.22.

TradeArabia News Service