The decrease in net profits is primarily due to higher claims and a slight increase in operational costs. However the Group’s Comprehensive Income increased from BD 2.26 million in 2011 to BD 2.84 million in 2012. Group’s Net Assets increased to BD 42.86 million in 2012 compared to BD 42.22 million in 2011.
The Group registered a decrease in its Underwriting Profit which totaled to BD 1.49 million in 2012 compared to BD 2.23 million in 2011. Net Investment Income from portfolio was BD 1.49 million compared to BD 1.59 million for 2011.
The Group posted a net profit of BD 0.91 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to BD1.09 million for the same period in 2011.
As for subsidiaries of the group, Bahrain National Insurance has achieved a net profit of BD 2.26 million, compared to BD 2.96 million for the same period last year, whereas the Bahrain National Life Insurance recorded net profit of BD 0.67 million compared to BD 0.69 million for the same period last year. Despite market conditions, the Group’s Gross Premiums increased by 6.3% to BD 23.31 million.
In line with our conservative but consistent dividends policy and taking into account the performance of the Group for 2012, the Board of Directors is recommending a dividend of 15%.
The Board would like to thank the shareholders, customers and all employees of BNH and its associate companies whose efforts during the year helped achieve this positive result in difficult circumstances.
“The year 2012 proved to be an extremely challenging one, with the predicted global and regional economic upturn failing to materialize, with local market conditions remaining volatile. Despite this, we continued along our progressive path, and achieved a positive performance in 2012. The group has undertaken number of steps during the year to overcome the challenges posed by the market. We are optimistic that these measures will have a positive impact on the group in the future,” Farouk Almoayyed, Chairman of the Group, said.
“We posted good financial results, considering the difficult market conditions. In addition, the increasingly competitive nature of the insurance market in Bahrain resulted in a further softening of rates and erosion of margins. Against this challenging background, we are pleased to report that BNH posted a good financial performance. We expect 2013 to be another challenging year, but we are optimistic in light of various strategic steps the group has taken, that should contribute towards the growth of the revenue and the profitability of the group,” Mahmood Al Soufi, Chief Executive of BNH added.