Profit soars 23.2% on Group's underwriting and investment performance results
KUWAIT: Gulf Insurance Group (gig) announced a net profit of KD 8.1 million ($26.7 million), or 45.32 fils per share, for the first half of 2019 compared to a net profit of KD 6.6 million ($21.7 million) for the same period last year, an increase of KD 1.5 million ($5 million) or 23.2 percent. This increase is due to the improvement in the Group's underwriting and investment performance results.
Shareholder equity reached KD 90.9 million ($299.6 million) as at June 30, 2019.
Book value per share reached 508 fils as at June 30, 2019, an increase of 2 percent from December 31, 2018. Gross written premium reached KD 173.1 million ($570.6 million), a growth of 3 percent compared to the KD 168.1 million ($554 million) reported in the same period last year. Net investment income and sundry income reached KD 6.9 million ($22.6 million) compared to KD 5.5 million ($18.1 million) for the same period last year, at an increase of 24.8 percent.
Net technical reserves rose from KD 150 million ($494.6 million) on December 31, 2018, to reach KD 156.3 million ($515.16 million) as at June 30, 2019. This increase, representing a growth of 4.2 percent, supports the company's technical operations and to protect the policyholders rights, thereby strengthening gig's ability to withstand emergencies and risks that may rise in the future. Total assets reached KD 644.7 million ($2.13 billion) as at June 30, 2019, an increase of KD 77.6 million ($255.7 million) or 13.7 percent from December 31, 2018.
Total cash and investments reached KD 285.7 million ($941.7 million) during the first six months of the year, an increase of KD 32.6 million ($107.6 million) or 12.9 percent from December 31, 2018.
Khaled Saoud Al-Hasan, gig's CEO, said, "Our results for the first half of 2019 reflect the growth we have achieved. This is also a strong indication of the Group's ability to protect its assets and shareholders' equity. It is also in line with our constant strive to provide the best insurance services to our clients across all the markets we operate in, supported by our strategy for regional expansion and increasing our domestic and regional market share."
He added, "We thank our clients for these achievements, as well as the our shareholders, namely KIPCO - Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) - and Fairfax Middle East Ltd for their support. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to our dedicated employees for their efforts."