UAE insurance firms’ 9-month gross premiums increase 3.7% to Dh19.5 billion

The total premiums written by listed insurance companies in UAE increased to Dh19.5 billion for the first nine months of 2021 as compared to Dh18.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, an increase of 3.7 per cent.

The gross written premiums of the insurance companies in the emirates portrayed a mixed trend in growth.

According to figures released by Badri Management Consultancy, about Dh7.3 billion worth of total net premiums were earned by the insurance companies in the UAE in the first nine months of 2021, hence, portraying an increase of three per cent from Dh7.1 billion. This does not include the figures for Union and Al Khazna due to the unavailability of financials.

The top five companies amounted to Dh4.1 billion of net earned premiums, reflecting a market share of 56 per cent.

There are currently 30 listed insurance companies, of which nine operate as Takaful insurers in the UAE market.

It said profitability was maintained due to an increase in investment income as the equity markets improved compared to last year. The total investment income has grown from Dh635 million to Dh858 million, a growth of 35 per cent.

The profits of the listed firms have seen a reduction from Dh1.616 billion in Q3 2020 to Dh1.577 billion in Q3 2021. The drop in underwriting Income is much higher as it went from Dh982 million to Dh718 million, a decrease of 27 per cent.

In Q3 2021, about nine per cent of premium growth is observed by Takaful companies when compared with the same period last year and depicting a 13 per cent contribution of the total business written by the listed insurance companies in UAE. The premium for the Takaful insurers stood at Dh3.3 billion in Q3 2021 versus Dh3.0 billion during the same period last year.

The significant decline in profit growth for Takaful companies results from declining profits for all but one of the nine players when compared to the previous period as overall profits grew from Dh318 million to Dh119 million.

— waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com