Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Companys net profit surges 41% to $10mln

PHOTO

MANAMA: Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company (BKIC) has reported a consolidated net profit of BD0.73 million for the three months ended December 2020 compared with a net loss of BD0.03m during the same period of the previous year.

Earnings per share during the Q4 were five fils compared with nil in the same period of the previous year.

Total comprehensive income increased by 93 per cent from BD0.741m in Q4-2019 to BD1.43m in Q4-2020.

Gross premium revenue decreased by 11pc from BD32.79m in Q4-2019 to BD29.25m in Q4-2020.

The underwriting profit increased by 532pc from BD0.144m in Q4-2019 to BD0.911m in Q4-2020.

The net investment income increased by 40pc, from BD0.143m in Q4-2019 to BD0.2m in Q4-2020.

For the year ended December 2020, the company has achieved a consolidated net profit of BD3.81m compared with BD2.7m in the previous year, registering an increase of 41pc.

Earnings per share was 27 fils compared with 19 fils in the previous year.

Total comprehensive income increased by 13.2pc to BD4.29m in 2020 from BD3.79m in 2019.

Gross premium revenue stood at BD85.43m at the end of 2020 compared with BD81.66m in the previous year, recording a growth of 5pc.

The underwriting profit during 2020 stood at BD3.48m, compared with BD2.22m in the previous year, recording an increase of 57pc.

The net investment income decreased by 11pc, from BD2.07m in 2019 to BD1.85m in 2020.

The 41pc increase in net profit for 2020 compared with the previous year is mainly due to the significant improvement in underwriting results, which is the company’s core business.

Among the drivers were optimising client retention, building new client relations and prudently controlling the claims cost.

Shareholders’ equity as of end-2020 was BD39.6m compared with BD37.5m as of end-2019, registering an increase of 5.5pc.

Total assets by end-2020 reached BD240m compared with BD246m as of end-2019, registering a decrease of 2.5pc.

Net technical reserves increased by 7.5pc from BD33.48m as of end-2019 to BD36m as of end-2020.

Commenting, the company’s board of directors said, “The board is pleased to announce the positive results for 2020 despite the immensely difficult circumstances of the pandemic alongside the heavy burden of reducing all business and trade activities both locally and globally. The management has exceeded expectations and remains on track with the three-year strategy, which revolves around accelerating growth and integrating robust digital services to elevate customers’ experience and bolster value creation for shareholders. We are confident the company will continue this positive trend in 2021 and onwards.”

The board also proposed distribution of cash dividend of 15pc equivalent to 15 fils per share amounting to BD2,136,140 (excluding the treasury shares); and bonus shares of 4.8951pc of paid-up capital equivalent to 4.8951 shares for every 100 shares, amounting to BD700,000.

This will increase the company’s paid-up capital to BD15,000,000 for total outstanding shares of 150,000,000.

Also commenting, BKIC chief executive Dr Abdulla Sultan said the results were in line with the budget regardless of the adverse impact of the pandemic and the challenging economic conditions.

To accomplish this, the company has posted noticeable growth, good control on expenses, enhanced superior underwriting, conservative provisioning, sound investment returns, and markedly more than 41pc increase in earnings, translating into a 9.6pc ROE. The investment in the Takaful subsidiary continues to prove its value by clearing almost all the deficit in the general participants funds.

In summary, the 2020 performance solidifies BKIC’s position as the leading insurance company in the Bahraini market.

Dr Sultan added, “The company has performed extremely well in 2020 exploiting operational endeavours which focused on enhancing underwriting, productivity and efficiency, and customer service. I remain confident knowing the company stands on ample ground to explore new growth ventures, achieve both its high-level and digital strategy, and affirm its leadership role in the industry.”

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.