BKIC’s profits increase

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company yesterday reported second-quarter and half-year profits, which increased from a year ago, helped by a significant improvement in their core underwriting business, despite the repercussions of the pandemic on the economy leading to a reduction in activities both locally and globally.

The company during the period also increased its technical results, which the board of directors said, will help it “surf the waves of future uncertainties from the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.” Dr Abdulla Sultan, the Chief Executive Officer of BKIC, said the consolidated results at the end of the first half of this year were encouraging even compared to the performance in the first half of last year.

He added: “The company continues to become even more conservative in its provisioning, preparing for the evolution into IFRS 9 & 17 parallel run in 2022.”

Q2 results

Net profit attributable to the shareholders for Q2 was BD 1.485 million compared to BD 1.448 m in the same quarter a year ago, representing an increase of 3%. Earnings per share were 10 fils same as in the 2nd quarter of last year. Total comprehensive income attributable to the shareholders reached BD 1.783 m compared to BD 2.955 m in Q2-2020, registering a decrease of 40% as the fair value of available for sale investments which had a significant recovery in Q2-2020 post impact of COVID-19 market reaction.

The company achieved 19.4% growth in gross premium revenue from BD 17.044 m to BD 20.302 m in the 2nd quarter of the current year. The underwriting profits increased by 47% from BD 1.141 m to BD 1.677 m in the 2nd quarter of the current year. Net investment income decreased by 78% from BD 0.589 m to BD 0.128 m in the 2nd quarter of the current year.

H1 results

Net profit attributable to the shareholders was BD 2.435 m, compared to BD 2.302 m in the same period last year, representing an increase of 6%.

Earnings per share were 16 fils compared to 15 fils in the same period last year. Total comprehensive income attributable to the shareholders was BD 2.822 m compared to BD 1.968 m for the same period last year, registering an increase of 43%. The company achieved an 18% growth in gross premium revenue of BD 44.927 m, compared to BD 38.019 m in the first half of last year.

The underwriting profits increased by 42%, from BD 1.732 m to BD 2.461 m in the first half of this year. The net investment income decreased by 41%, from BD 1.173 m to BD 0.691 m in the first half of this year, as the company did not sell investments in the current year to book any profit on the sale.

The increase in the net profit for the half-year mainly relates to the significant improvement in the core underwriting business. The net technical reserves increased from BD 36.001 m to BD 41.290 m at the end of the current period. Looking ahead, Dr Abdulla Sultan said that BKIC is well aligned with its 2021 plans and achieved evident progress in the Digital Transformation strategy and the Sustainability implementation project.

The company, he said, has launched its First Graduate Development intensive program and has selected three outstanding Bahraini women who have completed a comprehensive selection process. The candidates are out of more than 200+ applicants as the best fit for the company’s future vision.