UAE insurance companies post higher net profit in 2018: AM Best

The insurance market of the UAE continued its earnings momentum in 2018 to post a second consecutive year of bumper profits, ratings agency AM Best said in a report on Wednesday.

AM Best’s analysis of the preliminary disclosures of the national insurers listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) shows material improvements in both underwriting and overall performance, combined with modest premium growth.

In 2018, aggregate underwriting profits for UAE-listed insurers experienced a marginal decline of 1.7 percent to reach AED 1.7 billion, the report by AM Best noted.

However, net profits showed a strong increase of 6.4 percent to AED 1.4 billion.

Underwriting returns continued to benefit from improvements in pricing and underwriting discipline as a result of regulatory changes in 2017 in the key business lines of motor and medical insurance.

AM Best also notes that policies underwritten in 2017 continued to benefit 2018 results, favorably contributing to technical earnings.

Following two years of strong premium growth, in both volume and rates, Gross Written Premium increased modestly in 2018.