QIC Group’s GWP grows by 16% to QR8.97bn

23/10/2017 06:01 AST

Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), the leading insurer in Qatar and the Mena region, has reported a gross written premium (GWP) growth of 16 percent to QR8.97bn for the first nine months ended September 30, 2017, compared to QR7.73bn for the corresponding period of the previous year.

As on September 30, 2017, QIC Group’s shareholders’ equity stood at QR8.17bn, compared to QR8.47bn as on December 31, 2016.

The Group’s net underwriting result came in at a loss of QR103m versus an underwriting income of QR549m in the same period of the previous year. The net profit amounted to QR304m for the first nine months of 2017.

Premium income from the countries involved in the political standoff with Qatar does not represent a material portion of the Group’s revenues.

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director of the Board of Directors of QIC Group, who presided over the meeting, approved the financial results. Despite diplomatic and other economic turbulences in the Middle East, QIC Group’s globally diversified investment portfolio generated net investment income of QR798m in the first nine months of 2017 compared to QR632m in the same period of 2016.

QIC has a long and proven record of cost efficiency and consciousness. During the reporting period, the implementation of additional effective cost control policies, in combination with an accelerated pace of work process automation resulted in an improvement in the administration expense ratio to 6.6 percent against 8.5 percent during the same period in 2016.

Khalifa Abdulla Turki Al Subaey (pictured), Group President & CEO of QIC Group, said: “The financial results for the first nine months of 2017 demonstrate QIC Group’s resilience under conditions of severe market stress. In view of our significant global footprint and exposure as well as the ongoing diplomatic and economic concerns in the Gulf region, our financial performance is robust.”

He added: “The Group’s well-diversified franchise has proven able to tackle the challenges of the marketplace. The adverse impact of these events will be limited to our earnings, with QIC Group’s strong capital position remaining unscathed.”

Offering an outlook for the remainder of 2017, Al Subaey said, “In the wake of the third quarter’s natural disasters (hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria), our well-capitalised international operations are poised to benefit from the expected upward market revision in reinsurance premium rates. Meanwhile, we conduct ‘business as usual’ in our Qatari home market and in other Middle Eastern countries, despite the geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges in the region.”

QIC is a publicly listed composite insurer with a consistent performance history of over 50 years.

The Peninsula