Qatar Re/Antares drive strong growth in Qatar Insurance Company

Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) enjoyed solid growth in the first nine months of the year but its profits were hit by high catastrophe losses, the soft market and changes to the Ogden rate in the UK.

The re/insurer’s gross written premiums (GWP) increased to $2.46 billion in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 16 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Within these figures, its international operations, namely its Bermuda-domiciled reinsurance subsidiary Qatar Re, specialty insurer Antares headquartered in London and Malta-based subsidiary QIC Europe were the growth engines of QIC Group.

During the first nine months of 2017, their combined GWP grew by 25 percent, lifting their share of the Group’s combined premium income to 73 percent, up from 70 percent a year ago.

Its profits, however, fell to $84 million in the period, a big decline no the $195 million it made a year earlier.

The company posted a net underwriting loss $28 million for the first nine months of 2017 (versus an underwriting income of $151 million in the same period of the previous year. Its non-life combined ratio stood at 108.2 percent compared with 98.9 percent in the previous year. It said its net underwriting result reflects impact of massive insured natural catastrophes in the Americas.

Its losses were mainly generated by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) in the third quarter of 2017. Through Qatar Re and Antares’ Lloyd’s syndicate 1274, QIC has had a sizeable exposure to these events, which resulted in net losses of about $174 million. In total, these three disasters added 10 percentage points to QIC Group’s combined ratio and eroded 6.5 percent of the Group’s total equity.

Khalifa Abdulla Turki Al Subaey, group president & CEO of QIC Group, said: “The financial results for the first nine months of 2017 demonstrate QIC Group’s resilience under conditions of severe market stress. In view of our significant global footprint and exposure as well as the ongoing diplomatic and economic concerns in the Gulf region, our financial performance is robust.

“The Group’s well-diversified franchise has proven able to tackle the challenges of the marketplace. The adverse impact of these events will be limited to our earnings, with QIC Group’s strong capital position remaining unscathed.

“In the wake of the third quarter’s natural disasters, our well-capitalised international operations are poised to benefit from the expected upward market revision in (re)insurance premium rates. Meanwhile, we conduct ‘business as usual’ in our Qatari home market and in other Middle Eastern countries, despite the geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges in the region.”

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