12 March 2009
BEIRUT: Total non-life insurance premiums generated in Lebanon reached $590.5 million in 2008, constituting an increase of 22.4 percent from 2007, and compared to growth rates of 8 percent in 2007 and 4.7 percent in 2006, as reported by Lebanon This Week, Byblos Bank Group's economic publication.
Non-life premiums totaled $482.65 million in 2007 and $446.8 million in 2006. MEDGULF maintained its first place with $76.2 million in non-life premiums, followed by Bankers with $60.5 million, AXA Middle East with $43.6 million, Allianz SNA with $37.9 million, and Libano-Suisse with $35.1 million as the top five non-life insurers. The figures are compiled annually by Al-Bayan magazine. CLA registered the highest jump in the rankings from last year, moving from 24th to 14th place and posted the highest growth in premiums among all insurers in the survey at 256.8 percent year-on-year. Byblos Bank's insurance affiliate ADIR registered a 41.6 percent rise in premiums, posting the fourth highest jump among the top 20 insurers and third-biggest jump in non-life premiums among insurers that are partly of fully-owned by banks. It ranked in 13th place, up one notch form the previous year. ADIR's non-life premiums jumped by 22.4 percent in 2007 and constituted the biggest rise among insurers affiliated to banks.
There were nine advances and four declines among the top 20 insurers, while the rankings of seven insurers were unchanged. Nine of the top 10 insurers were unchanged from 2007, with Cumberland dropping five spots to 12th place and Assurex improving by three spots to 9th place. All of the top 10 insurers posted increases in their premiums and eight saw a double-digit rise. AROPE and Assurex recorded the biggest year-on-year rise at 65.4 percent and 59 percent respectively, while MEDGULF and ALICO's premiums rose by single digits of 7.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. The rankings of the top five insurers remained unchanged. There were two advances and two declines in the rankings of the top 10 firms. AROPE and Libano-Arabe gained two notches each to rank in 6th and 8th place respectively, while Fidelity and ALICO regressed by one spot each to 7th place and 10th place, respectively.
The top 10 insurers controlled 64.4 percent of the market in 2008 compared to 63.3 percent in 2007, while the top 20 insurers represented 85.3 percent of premiums compared to 84 percent in 2007. The aggregate non-life premiums of the top 10 insurers reached $380.4 million in 2008 compared to $305.6 million in 2007. - The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
