Muscat – Al-Watan:
The insurance sector continues to achieve good growth rates, which confirms that there is awareness and awareness of the importance of the insurance sector in providing an environment and a safe environment for practicing economic and social activities, both individual and corporate, as the unaudited insurance sector indicators indicate for the first quarter of this year This indicates an increase in the growth rates of total insurance premiums by 3% by 3.85 million Omani Rials to reach 134.7 million Omani Rials, compared with 131 million Omani Rials during the same period in 2016.
The increase in the volume of insurance premiums in the first quarter of this year was positively affected by the volume of demand for individual life and health insurance products, in addition to other insurance products, which rose by 15%, while the growth of insurance products focused on individual life insurance topping all products with a growth rate. Noticeable during the first quarter of 2017, when it reached 30%, which is thus achieving continuous growth levels that it started during 2016, after opportunities were provided to the beneficiaries of bank loans the freedom to choose the appropriate insurance companies and lack of commitment from the group insurance service that was offered by banks to their customers, as The health insurance branch continued to achieve good growth rates during the first quarter of 26% compared to 2016, which indicates an increase in awareness of the benefits of health insurance and the tendency of individuals and institutions to provide this type of insurance coverage to obtain better levels of health care. the productThe second place in the share of insurance premiums in the Sultanate after motor insurance.
On the other hand, data show that engineering insurance products witnessed an improvement in the first quarter of this year by 3% compared to the previous year, unlike what this type of product witnessed at the end of 2016, where the engineering insurance product recorded a decrease of 21%, which is the insurance associated with project insurance Facilities and risks that contractors are exposed to.
Unaudited first quarter data shows a decrease in the transport, liability, comprehensive vehicle and group life insurance branch, and the property insurance branch recorded a decrease of 33%, 31%, 11%, 9% and 3%, respectively, and most of these products were affected by the spending cuts adopted by the government. To counter the wave of lower oil prices.
Net premiums
The growth rates achieved by the sector in the total direct written premiums for the first quarter of 2017 were positively reflected in the total net direct premiums. The total net direct premiums value increased during the first quarter of 2017 with a growth rate of 5% compared to the same period last year. Transport and engineering have the highest growth rates among the various insurance branches in the first quarter of 2017, as they recorded an increase of 98% and 58%, respectively, compared to the same period of 2016. While the group life insurance branches, property, comprehensive cars and others, and liability, recorded decreases of 28%, 21.6%, 11%, 10.6% and 2%, respectively.
Retention
The retention ratios in the sector during the first quarter of the current year are about 57%, which is calculated after reinsurance operations out of the total direct premiums, and the data shows that the retention ratios in the property and transport insurance branch are the lowest compared to the rest of the insurance branches, as their rates reached 13.7% And 18.5%, respectively, as a result of reinsuring the largest part of these risks with reinsurance companies.
On the other hand, the retention rate in the motor insurance branch (comprehensive and third party) was the highest among the various insurance branches, recording 87.7% for third party insurance and 84.8% for comprehensive insurance.
Operating results
The value of earned premiums increased during the first quarter of 2017 by 2% compared to the same period in 2016, as the total value of earned premiums reached 68.11 million Omani riyals in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 66.58 million riyals in the same period of the year In 2016, the total net compensation decreased to reach 45.43 million Omani riyals in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 48,98 million Omani riyals in the first quarter of 2016.
On the other hand, the total net commissions for the years 2016 and 2017, which are the commissions that insurance companies charge from reinsurers in return for reinsuring part of their local insurance policies, are close to achieving 6.69 million riyals during the first quarter of 2017 and 2016, and production costs data show a change during the first quarter From 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, when it increased from 13.74 million riyals to 14.23 million riyals.
