MANAMA: Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company (BKIC) has reported a net loss of BD31,000 for the three months ended December 2019 as against a profit of BD342,000 during the same period of the previous year.

Earnings per share during the fourth quarter were nil compared with two fils in the same period of the previous year.

The total comprehensive income decreased by 10 per cent from BD819,000 in fourth quarter of 2018 to BD741,000 in the same period of last year.

The gross premium revenue increased by 2pc from BD32 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 to BD32.8m in the same period of last year.

The underwriting profit increased by 29pc from BD112,000 to BD144,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Net investment income decreased by 21pc from BD181,000 in the fourth quarter of the previous year to BD143,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The decrease in the net profit for the three months ended December 2019 compared with the same period of previous year is mainly due to the extraordinary expenses and also due to the decrease in investment income.

The company achieved a consolidated net profit of BD2.701m compared with BD3.155m in the previous year, registering a decrease of 14pc.

The earnings per share were 19 fils compared with 22 fils in the previous year.

Total comprehensive income increased by 35pc to BD3.9m in 2019 compared with BD2.9m in 2018.

Gross premium revenue stands at BD81.7m at the end of current year compared with BD81.6m in the previous year.

Underwriting profit during the 2019 stands at BD2.2m, compared with BD1.9m in the previous year, recording an increase of 16pc.

The net investment income increased by 3pc from BD2.01m in 2018 to BD2.07m in 2019.

The reduction in net profit for the year ended December 2019 compared with previous year was mainly due to the extraordinary expenses of VAT on UPR for the policies written before VAT implementation and voluntary retirement programme expenses incurred during the year amounting to BD633,000.

Total assets by the end of 2019 reached BD246m compared with BD212m at the end of previous year, an increase of 16pc.

Shareholders equity as of end-2019 was BD38m compared with BD36m as of end of the previous year, registering an increase of 6pc.

The net technical reserves increased from BD29.5m at the end of the previous year to BD33.1m at the end of 2019.

The board of directors expressed their complete satisfaction with the performance of the company as it achieved a growth in net premium income, reduction in loss ratio and increase in investment income.

The extraordinary expenses incurred by the company during the year had a negative impact on the targeted results.

The board decided to propose a distribution of cash dividend of 15pc, equivalent to 15 fils per share amounting to BD14.3m.

Chief executive Ebrahim Alrayes said BKIC is the leading insurance company in Bahrain market and continues to enhance its services by introducing new products and developing the existing products in order to maintain its leadership position.

He stressed the importance of using technology in the company’s business to keep abreast of the latest development in the insurance world.

The company is rated as A- (Excellent) with stable outlook by AM best which is the highest rating in Bahrain awarded to a local direct insurer.

BKIC is a subsidiary of Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) which is the largest insurance group in Kuwait in terms of written and retained premiums, with operations in life and non-life as well as Takaful insurance.

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