Oman United Insurance Company (OUIC), a leading insurance company in Oman, achieved a growth of 44 per cent in business with an underwriting profit of RO3.2 million ($8.32 million) last year.

Although the global economy was not encouraging last year, the underwriting profit of OUIC in all lines of insurance business amounted to RO3.2 million as compared to RO2.5 million in 2010, the company said in its 26th annual report which was released recently.

There was an improvement of 26 per cent and the gross underwriting profit margin of the company stood at 10.4 per cent.

Sayyid Salim bin Nassir Al Busaidi, chairman, OUIC said, “OUIC is committed in promoting and developing quality and technical excellence in the Omani insurance sector. We have a futuristic vision and a deep understanding of the day to day insurance needs of the general public, industrial, business and medical sectors.”

OUIC has achieved a remarkable growth in almost all the sectors. The gross insurance premium revenue of OUIC amounted to RO30.3 million in 2011 as compared to RO20.9 million in 2010 registering an outstanding growth of 44 per cent.

In the general insurance sector the gross premium income amounted to RO21.9 million registering a growth of 33 per cent as compared to RO16.4 million in 2010.

The company is ranked second in terms of market share in Life and Medical business and registered a growth of 83 per cent in the segment with a gross premium income of RO8.4 million as compared to RO4.6 million in 2010.

OUIC has its own Auto Services Division, which repairs around 2,000 vehicles annually.

The gross operational profit of the division increased by 44 per cent to RO144,000 as compared to RO100,000 in 2010. The company policy in dividend distribution has also maintained a fine balance by retaining and distributing annual profits and at the same time considering the future growth of the company.

“The company has declared a cash dividend of 7.5 per cent in the annual general meeting held in Muscat recently based on the outstanding number of shares of 100 million as on December 31, 2011,” added Al Busaidi.

Ravi Shankar, chief executive officer said, “Despite the market challenges we have been able to achieve significant growth both in premium income and profitability.  We are constantly endeavouring to improve and innovate our product offerings in line with the demands and expectations of the market.  Also, we have taken number of initiatives to improve our system and processes to ensure quality service to our clients.”

The reinsurance program of OUIC is led and supported by global leaders and enables the company to write desirable business in a flexible way with minimal referral.

OUIC aims to continue its growth through retail business, improving processes and implementing new software which will include the vast network of OUIC’s branches and intermediaries and will facilitate better services delivery capabilities.

Sayyid Nassir bin Salim al Busaidi, director and managing director, OUIC said, “The government has announced opening up the insurance market to Islamic insurance.”

“We look forward to actively participate in the all the sectors and give the best services to our customers. In the past we have been progressing with the support of our shareholders, customers and insurance brokers who have shown confidence in the company. Oman’s economy continues to show stable growth and the insurance sector will continue to benefit from the growing economy,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service