Oman Re has finished in the black for the second consecutive year, achieving a net profit of OMR660,600 ($1.7m) for 2018, up 588.1% over the OMR96,000 in 2017, according to a statement released by the company. It was the second consecutive year in which the reinsurer reported a profit.
GWP reached OMR22.4m in 2018, an 80.6% increase compared to 2017’s OMR12.4m. The property class of business remained the biggest contributor to the top line, followed by engineering. Growth was evident in both treaty and facultative portfolios and business emanating from Qatar, the UAE, Turkey, Pakistan and India grew markedly.
The combined ratio improved by 12.7 percentage points to stand at 91.5% at the end of 2018, mainly because of a better loss ratio for the period (2018: 55.2% vs 2017: 62.3%). The expense ratio, as a percentage of GWP, also showed improvement, falling to 7.1% in 2018 compared to 11.4% a year ago.
Investment income remained stable at OMR1,055,000 in 2018, marginally higher than the OMR1,034,000 posted in 2017.
The company’s financial strength significantly increased during 2018. Net technical reserves grew to OMR15m from OMR12.5m at the end of 2017. Furthermore, Oman Re generated operating cash flow of OMR2.6m in 2018 and its healthy cash and bank balances covered 161.1% of the net loss reserves.
Oman Re CEO Romel Tabaja said, “We are pleased to see consistent top-line growth despite a major portfolio clean-up in 2017. This shows that our strategy of more disciplined underwriting is working.
“Furthermore, the recording of a net profit for the second year in a row, and its significant rise compared to last year, proves the validity of our turnaround strategy initiated in 2017. It is also thanks to the commitment of the entire Oman Re team to engage in our mission to provide innovative and responsive solutions that meet our stakeholders’ needs of today and goals of tomorrow.”
Oman Re is the first reinsurer to be established in Oman with the purpose of writing facultative and treaty business from local and international markets, which include all Afro-Asian countries, and it writes marine and non-marine lines of business. Oman Re was incorporated in 2009 with a paid-up capital of OMR5m. Its capital has since been gradually increased to OMR30m. M
OMR1 = $2.60