Oman: Listed insurers recorded 11% increase in combined profits after tax for 2018
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2019
Insurers listed on the Muscat Securities Market have increased their combined net profit after tax by 11.1% to OMR25m ($65m) in 2018, according to unaudited financial statements filed by the insurers with the bourse.
Total premiums written by the locally incorporated insurers grew by 7.5% y-o-y to OMR381m in 2018.
Among the insurers themselves, performance was mixed – some increased profits, while others reported reduced gains for last year.
National Life & General Insurance continued to dominate the listed insurers, as it has done for several years. In 2018, its net profit after tax of OMR9m represented 36% of the combined profits of the listed insurers, and its GWP accounted for 35% of the aggregate GWP.
Dhofar Insurance, the second-largest insurer in terms of GWP, showed the biggest improvement in financial performance as it turned around from losses in 2017 to profits last year. The company’s underwriting gains increased by 114% from OMR3.5m in 2017 to OMR7.4m in 2018 contributing to the net profit of OMR1.4m.
Al Madina Takaful also posted an impressive 81% rise in 2018 net profit because it wrote off investment impairment that amounted to OMR434,715 in 2017.
Muscat Insurance reported a 35% plunge in net profit after tax on lower GWP and reduced investment income, and was affected too by higher expenses. Similarly, Oman Qatar Insurance’s 39% dive in net profit after tax was a result of lower investment income and underwriting margins as well as higher expenses.
There are 10 domestically incorporated insurers and 10 branches of foreign insurance companies as well as one reinsurer operating in Oman. M
OMR1 = $2.60