UAE: Watania's turnaround strategy places group in healthy financial stead for 2024
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2024
Watania International Holding (WIH) has posted a net profit of AED13.8m ($3.8m) for 2023, turning around from a net loss of AED53.1m in 2022, according to the company’s preliminary consolidated financial results for 2023.
In 2023, WIH made its first operating profit since its merger with Dar Al Takaful in July 2022. The result was driven by underwriting profit (after expenses) of AED15m in 4Q2023 achieved by all takaful business lines. The solid recovery in 4Q2023 was due to significant improvements in the results of both the medical and motor lines of business, combined with strong growth in the technical and family takaful lines.
WIH reported a 12% increase in takaful revenue to AED922m for 2023, compared to AED820m in 2022. Net investment income surged by 162% to AED36m in 2023, compared to AED13.7m in 2022. Approximately AED20m in net cost synergies from the merger was achieved in 2023.
WIH chairman Ali Aldhaheri said, “Against the backdrop of the ongoing uncertainty in the regional macroeconomic environment, WIH achieved a steady result at the end of the financial year 2023. This reflects the significant improvements and corrective measures taken to turn around both the financial and operational performance of the company and its subsidiaries respectively since the completion of the merger in July 2022.”
WIH CEO Gautam Datta said, “Our landmark operating profit in the last quarter of the financial year comes on the back of implementing a strict underwriting discipline across all product lines, focusing on smart segmentation and competitive pricing based on data analysis. At the same time, we increased operational efficiency to bring down costs and paid constant attention to improving customer experience. It marks a solid step for us towards a return to normalised profitability moving forward following the significant reduction in our net losses from FY2022.” M