Al Ahlia Insurance has reported a net profit of BD2.155 million ($5.68 million) for the first six months of 2013 as against a net profit of BD319,999 for the same period of last year, an increase of 574 per cent.

The firm's profit from insurance operations for the period stood at BD597,944, up by BD385,757 from BD212,187 for the same period of last year, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The company's net earned premiums for the period stood at BD2.325 million, registering a growth of 5.18 per cent against last year's corresponding figure of BD2.211 million.

Its gross premiums for the period stood at BD7.418 million up by BD128,814 from last year's half-yearly figure of BD7.289 million.

"Because of our freshly introduced prudent underwriting practices, we aim to achieve better operational results as well as have a healthy growth of business in the forthcoming periods," said Al Ahlia's general manager Fadi Khatib.

He said that Al Ahlia's investment portfolio is showing strong results. Shareholders' equity also increased by 7.87 per cent in six months from the year-end from BD14.1 million to BD15.2 million.

"The insurance market in Bahrain has become highly competitive in the past few years and therefore retaining existing clients has become an ever-growing challenging task," Khatib added.

"However, through giving personalised and prompt insurance services to our customers, we believe that will be the key to retain our current market share and grow further in the forthcoming periods." – TradeArabia News Service