RABAT- Morocco's biggest insurance company Wafa Assurance said on Wednesday it expected its profits to drop by 25 percent in the first half of 2018 versus the same period in the previous year due to an increase in insurance-related losses.

The insurer said that profits would be about 400 million dirhams as its insurance losses hit 240 million dirhams in the first six months this year.

Wafa said the increase in the losses was mainly due to the performance of the car insurance business and three other major losses. The company did not give further details.

Wafa's shares were down nearly 10 percent on the Casablanca stock exchange soon after the profit warning.

The insurer is owned 50 percent by Morocco's biggest bank Attijariwafa Bank ATW.CS and 50 percent by the Royal Holding SNI which rebranded last March to Al Mada.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi. Editing by Jane Merriman) ((ahmed.eljechtimi@thomsonreuters.com;))