11/05/2010 - 12:50:24 BAHRAIN: BKIC'S GROSS PREMIUMS HIT US$ 26 MLN IN 1Q10
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co (BKIC) said its gross premiums grew 6.3% y-o-y to BHD9.85 million (US$26.1 million) in the first quarter this year, while net profit fell 15.5% from BHD1.55 million in the first quarter of 2009 to BHD1.31 million for the same period this year.
Mr Ebrahim Al Rayes, CEO of BKIC said the decrease was due to a significant decline in net investment income to BHD346,048 in the first quarter 2010, down 42.7% y-o-y. Underwriting profits also declined by almost 9% due to the high loss ratio in motor department.
In addition, earnings per share decreased to 20 fils at the end of first quarter as against 24 fils in the same period last year. The return on shareholders' funds was 5.37% in the first quarter this year compared to 7.08% for the same period last year. During the year 2010, the company has increased its paid-up capital to 6.5 million, according to Mr Al Rayes.
Mr Al-Rayes hoped that the company, in the next nine months, will be able to make up for the deficiencies and achieve better results in line with the growth which had been achieved in the previous years.
