News, Uncategorized

Salama reports 9-month net profit of AED 25.1 million, reaffirms leadership position with digital offering, good solvency ratio and progress in insurance portfolio consolidation

November 14, 2022

Highlights:

  • Q3 Gross Written Contributions up 48% year-on-year to AED 312 million, while for the 9-month period it reached AED 886 million.
  • Strong performance of subsidiaries in Egypt and Algeria, which achieved profitability growth of 54% YOY.
  • Q3 Net Profit grows 102% YoY to AED 5.9 million.
  • 5.6% YoY decline in general, administrative, and other expenses in Q3 2022, resulting from the deployment of improved cost control measures.
  • Leading in offering the largest number of digital takaful solutions to customers and partners, with progress to date and future efforts to accelerate digital capabilities and enable further business growth.
  • Regaining solvency status and maintaining a good solvency ratio, indicating financial stability and a high ability to pay claims.
  • Preparing for the proposed consolidation of insurance portfolios, which once completed will scale up SALAMA’s capabilities and place it among the top five Takaful insurers in the world. 
  • The new board appointed in April 2019, is committed to safeguarding the interests of SALAMA and its shareholders and has worked relentlessly in this direction, which is rightly reflected in the recent decisions of the UAE courts in favour of SALAMA.

Dubai, November 14, 2022: Islamic Arab Insurance Company, listed as “SALAMA” on DFM, today announced its audited financial results for the period ended September 30, 2022. The Company reported net profit of AED 25.1 million for the 9-month period. SALAMA’s quarterly profit doubled year-on-year, rising 102% to AED 5.9 million.

SALAMA’s gross written contributions for the period ended September 30, 2022, reached AED 886 million amid a price-sensitive and competitive market environment. In the third quarter, GWC recorded significant year-on-year growth of 48% to AED 312 million. 

In the UAE, SALAMA remained profitable, while subsidiaries in Algeria and Egypt outperformed year-on-year, reporting profitability growth of 54%. General, administrative, and other expenses in the third quarter of 2022 declined by 5.6% compared to the same period last year, driven by improved cost control measures.

SALAMA’s solid digital transformation strategy, coupled with prudent underwriting, client portfolio diversification, new partnerships, and improved distribution channels, contributed to the year-to-date progress across its various product lines.

In the coming quarters, SALAMA will prepare for the planned consolidation and acquisition of Takaful Emarat and the insurance portfolios of AMAN. The proposed transaction will expand SALAMA’s capabilities, realize business synergies and improve business performance. The portfolio consolidation, which is expected to be completed in the second half of next year, will significantly strengthen SALAMA’s position, giving the Takaful company a larger market share and making it one of the five largest Islamic insurers in the world.

One of the main highlights of the third quarter was the restoration of SALAMA’s solvency status. This was the result of the insurer working closely with the UAE Central Bank and taking the necessary measures to be able to maintain a good solvency ratio – demonstrating the insurer’s financial stability and high ability to pay claims.

Commenting on the SALAMA’s quarterly performance, Jassim Alseddiqi, SALAMA’s Chairman said: “The Board is very pleased with SALAMA’s strong financial performance to date. The restoration of our solvency status was critical this quarter and we are grateful to the Central Bank of the UAE for its support and guidance over the past 12 months – which has been instrumental in bringing SALAMA to where we are today in terms of capital strength. We also look forward to scaling up as we prepare for the proposed acquisition of insurance portfolios. In addition, SALAMA’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation initiatives, combined with the Company’s penchant for innovation, has continued to contribute positively to revenue growth. All of these steps have collectively yielded great results overall in terms of improving SALAMA’s financial strength, unlocking growth opportunities and creating value in line with shareholder and policyholder expectations.”

Fahim Al Shehhi, CEO of SALAMA, said: “SALAMA’s performance in the third quarter is a true testament to how our direct-to-customer approach and aggressive customer acquisition strategy continues to pay off. Our efforts in the strategic pillars of digitalization, innovation and collaboration will accelerate and lead to enhanced customer experiences and omnichannel services, as well as our ongoing digital marketing efforts and campaigns for our large customer base. Our progress to date and our future aspirations reinforce our commitment to making Takaful and its benefits as seamless as possible for everyone.”

The Takaful insurer’s partnerships with banks, broker aggregators and e-commerce platforms have seen tremendous growth this year, establishing SALAMA as the preferred provider of digital Takaful solutions for underwriting and issuing policies online. The latest partnership is an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) to offer SALAMA’s services on ADDED’s ‘Investor Journey’ portal, which allows entrepreneurs and investors to apply for a wide range of services, including business insurance. Other recent key partnerships include one with policybazaar to offer online insurance to owners of non-GCC-specification cars who have not had access to comprehensive auto insurance in the past, and another with insuretech provider Wellx to offer hyper-personalised takaful solutions to its customers via wearables technology that helps them cultivate wellness and safety behaviours. SALAMA continues to build new strategic partnerships with leading banks in the UAE to provide omnichannel takaful solutions to the banks’ customers.

SALAMA is also one of the first takaful providers to allow its customers to access its services and products via WhatsApp. With initiatives like these, SALAMA is expanding its direct-to-customer portfolio to include product lines such as enhanced medical, motor, home, and pet insurance, as well as the recently added Essential Benefit Plan, which enables instant policy issuance and generates a health card online.

SALAMA recently ran a 22-day social media campaign titled ‘Kind Beings of Dubai’ to share stories of extraordinary acts of kindness shown or experienced by UAE residents. Complementing the Dubai-wide initiative, SALAMA recently launched the Essential Benefit Plan – an offering licenced from DHA that is tailored to meet the needs of workers with dependents who earn less than AED 4000 per month.

SALAMA stands as UAE’s largest sharia’h compliant Takaful operator with AAA-rated capital adequacy rating from S&P and is one of the few insurers to meet the solvency requirements of the regulator.