The AGM was presided over by the Chairman of the board Khalid Ali Bustani and executive management panel was led by Yassir Albaharna, CEO of Arig.
Arig earlier announced Q4 profits of $5 million in 2012 against net loss of $7.6 million a year ago, the company swing back into black.
Arig in a statement said that it had earned net profits of $15.3 million in 2012 financial year results against the net loss of $ 19.1 million in 2011.
The Company’s reinsurance book and investment income both contributed to the rebound. The company’s technical result stood at $ 27 million (2011: loss of $0.4 million) based on a combined ratio of 96.9% for the non-life reinsurance portfolio (2011: 108.6%). Investments yielded $21.4 million (2011: $4.0 million), or 3.3% (2011: 0.6%) return on investible assets. Arig’s net profit for the fourth quarter 2012 alone was $5 million (Q4 only 2011: net loss of $7.6 million).
The performance of the Company in 2012 was supported by Arig’s favorable claims experience with an associated drop in the Company’s non-life loss ratio by 14 points to 57.9%. Strong earnings were aided by increased profitability in Arig’s Life book and lower operational cost. Gross premiums written reduced by 3.6% to $238.6 million for the year (2011: $247.5 million), mostly owing to the effects of political turmoil, applied sanction measures and continuing price competition.
“No doubt, maintaining strict underwriting discipline and a conservative investment strategy has kept Arig away from the pitfalls of uncontrolled growth and declining profitability. Arig had a strong rebound in a competitive market place and I believe we are now enjoying the fruits of our past efforts. On average, the returns from our reinsurance portfolio have trended upwards even though original market rates continued to slide throughout most of the Emerging Markets,” Albaharna, quoted saying during the announcement of results.
Arig’s shareholders’ equity stood at $247.1 million at the end of 2012 (end of 2011: $222.4 million) with a book value per share of $ 1.25 for the same period (end of 2011: $1.12).