Amãna Takaful upbeat on third quarter results

Amãna Takaful PLC (ATPLC) recorded an impressive growth of 26% for the nine months to September 2012, well above the industry average of 12.2%.

The company’s performance in terms of total Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 1,151.5 million up to September 2012 compares with Rs. 913.6 million in the same period of 2011. The General insurance business accounted for Rs. 891.0 million, growing significantly at 28.5% over the comparative period in 2011.

The Life segment’s Gross Written Premium of Rs. 260.4 million to September 2012 reflects a growth of 18.4% over the corresponding period last year. These results reflect a substantial upside against the industry performance of 18.3% and 4.4% on General and Life businesses respectively as at end September 2012.  

ATPLC’s general business performance was well supported by a modest motor portfolio growth of 27.1%, together with all other non-motor classes ahead by 37.1%. The medical portfolio’s GWP growth of 42.4% came through with the enlistment of new corporates and the flexibility exercised to tailor-make offers. From an industry standpoint, the company’s market share improved, retaining its market position, despite fierce price competition.

In the Life segment, ATPLC’s protection products showed good promise since its re-launch in June, while ‘Prosper’ – the unit link offer attracted increasing subscriptions despite the equity market volatility, with a growth of 54% to September compared to a year ago. These performances propelled the life fund during the nine month period by a healthy 30.7%. Moreover, ATPLC’s weighted average premium in life policies remains steadfast at the number two slot among Life industry players.

Meanwhile, ATPLC’s underwriting result improved from the second quarter, principally on account of better management of the motor portfolio, through the re-fashioning of its motor product and streamlining the under-writing and claims process to improve efficiency in this fiercely price competitive segment.

Notwithstanding the slide in equity market conditions, the judicious management of the diversified investment portfolio yielded an upside, principally in Bullion in Q3, boosting returns by 451% over the same period last year. These results helped to mitigate the over-run on motor claims and wipe out the loss of Rs. 34 million at the half year to deliver a profit of Rs. 4.74 million to September 2012. This compares with a loss of Rs. 58 million in 2011.

At a group level, a consolidated profit of Rs. 59.8 million was reported, in which the Maldives Takaful operation contributed substantially among the other subsidiaries. Amãna Takaful Maldives (ATM), now in its first year of operation as a PLC, recorded a GWP of MRF 46.7 million (Rs. 397.6 million) for the nine months ended September posting a commendable growth of 63% over 2011. The profit from this business performance is MRF 7.8 million (Rs. 66.7 million), of which 45% is attributed to minority shareholders.

“Responding to market dynamics, the re-launch of our Life products in June, followed by the re-fashioning of our motor flagship brand – Total Drive in July – the company’s portfolio is now in much better shape to take advantage of the immense potential in these segments,” said Fazal Ghaffoor, CEO, Amãna Takaful PLC, commenting on the third quarter performance of the company. “Productivity gains through prudent cost management and process improvement are giving the much needed impetus to improve business results and service delivery,” added Ghaffoor.  

In addition, Amãna Takaful’s geographic footprint has expanded to Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Jaffna and Hambantota, with the opening of new branches which re-emphasises that Takaful is available to all Sri Lankans. Concurrently, four other branches were re-located and refurbished with state of the art connectivity to cater to customer touch points.

“I am pleased to say that in spite of the challenging market forces at play, Amãna Takaful has been focussed on delivering stakeholder expectations and returning to profit. I am confident that this growth momentum will be sustained in the final quarter and beyond” said Tyeab Akbarally, Chairman, Amãna Takaful, commenting on the performance at the end of the first nine months of 2012.

The current Board of Amãna Takaful PLC includes M/S. Tyeab Akbarally (Chairman), Ehsan Zaheed (Executive Director), Non-Executive Directors – Osman Kassim, Dr. A.A.M. Haroon, Dr. T. Senthilverl, Dr. Ifthikar Ismail and Non-Executive Independent Directors M.H.M. Rafiq, Dato’ Fadzli Yusof, A.S.M. Muzzamil, Ali Sabry and R. Gopinath.