Qatar: QIC Group saw 5.4% growth to $137m in 9-month net profit
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Dec 2019
Qatar Insurance Group (QIC Group) saw its net profit grow by 5.4% to $137m in the first nine months of 2019, thanks to stable underwriting results and resilient investment income.
During the same period, the group’s GWP increased by 2.7% to $2.7bn. The group’s international carriers namely Qatar Re, Antares, QIC Europe Limited (QEL) and its Gibraltar based carriers account for approximately 76% of the total GWP.
In 9M2019, the group’s net underwriting result improved by 10.6% to $115m, compared with $104m for the same period last year. The insurer said low-severity high frequency business now accounts for a significant portion of QIC’s total underwriting portfolio.
Its combined ratio for the first nine months of 2019 reached 101.5%, compared to 102% in the previous year.
The insurer said its underwriting performance during the reporting period was adversely affected by the UK government’s decision to revise the Ogden discount rate to minus 0.25% on 15 July 2019. Excluding the impact of reserve developments as a result of changes to the Ogden discount rate in the UK, the underlying combined ratio for the first nine months of 2019 was 99.3%.
Investment income reached $168m in 9M2019, compared to $169m in the same period last year. QIC Group’s current investment return amounted to an annualised 4.6%, compared with 4.5% for the same period of 2018.
“The group’s near-term outlook remains cautiously optimistic. Our exposure to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and the vagaries of global re/insurance pricing is relatively moderate. As QIC does not underwrite the market but focuses on bespoke, innovative and expertise-based transactions, we continue to be shielded from a number of major risk scenarios presented by the political and economic environment,” Mr Khalifa Abdulla Turki Al Subaey, group president & CEO of QIC Group said. M