Oman Insurance Company, one of the premier insurance companies in the UAE, said its gross written premiums increased 41 per cent to touch Dh2.14 billion ($582 million) in 2008.

The company's net profit soared to Dh250 million, of which Dh220 million is from technical operations – a substantial increase of 26 per cent over their 2007 statistics, said Mattar Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of Oman Insurance Company.

Addressing the shareholders at the company's annual general assembly meeting in Deira, Dubai, Al Tayer said the company has decided to distribute 50 per cent cash dividend to the investors.

“We are pleased with the 2008 outcome and results. The achievement of these figures despite tough competition and economical crisis clearly states that Oman Insurance Company is the leading insurance company in the GCC region and still retains market confidence” Al Tayer commented.

"2008 was not just a competitive year but a challenging one. With the dynamics of world’s economy being challenged it meant that we had to identify our advantage to survive the potential and sometime drastic decline," he pointed out.

"The result we achieved assures us that we have retained a strong foothold in this highly competitive insurance sector."

"Last year we largely focused on growing the technical business which has allowed us to meet our goals”, he added.

Al Tayer also appointed the company's board members for the next three years.-TradeArabia News Service