UAE: Watania distributes dividends for second year in a row
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jun 2020
Shareholders of National Takaful Company (Watania) have approved at the recent company’s annual general meeting the distribution of dividends for the second year in a row.
The company is distributing 6% cash dividends amounting to AED9m ($2.5m) to shareholders for 2019 after handing out 5% cash dividends for 2018.
Last year was the first financial year for which the company had declared dividends since its inception in 2011.
Watania earned net profit of AED13.1m in 2019, against AED12.3m in 2018.
Watania chairman Dr Ali Saeed Sultan Bin Harmel Al Dhaheri said the company had performed well in light of various challenges facing the insurance sector, such as competitive prices, fluctuations in the investment climate and issues related to the collection of premiums. The insurer overcame challenges by exerting tight control on expenditures.
He added that the company would continue to enhance its resources, monitor its expenditures and focus on reducing risks in its investment portfolio to achieve sustainable investment returns.
He said, “The general assembly agreed to distribute 6% dividends to shareholders for the year 2019, for the second year in a row, which clearly shows that the company’s strategic plan of ‘back to basics’, adopted in 2016, has begun to bear fruit.”
“We will also continue to invest in our various IT platforms to ensure a smooth customer experience and increase our efficiency and productivity,” he added.
Commenting on future expectations, Dr Al Dhaheri noted that the UAE government has provided a package of economic incentives to support various sectors to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed confidence that once companies return to normal operations, the insurance sector will recover and be in a good position to seize opportunities and continue to grow. M
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