Net profits of 28 insurance companies listed at Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) surged 34.2 per cent during the first half (H1) of the year to Dh764 million ($208 million) against Dh569 million during H1 2016.

Market analysts attributed the recovered profitability in the insurance sector to the success secured by eight companies which turned last year's losses into gains during the first six month of the year in addition to the increase in the number of firms getting listed at this platform, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.

The restructuring policies adopted by a large number of these companies have as well led to the noticeable improvement in performance coupled with the marked hike in share prices.

In more detail, profits of 16 insurance companies listed at ADX amounted to Dh363 million during the first half of the year, a growth of 8.6 per cent from Dh334 million in the same period last year.

At DFM, profits of 12 listed insurance companies jumped 70.6 per cent to Dh401 million during H1 against Dh235 million during the same period last year.

It was noteworthy that the seven listed Takaful insurance companies posted impressive growth, with three of them listed at ADX securing net profit of Dh40.4 million, a growth of 59 per cent from Dh25.4 million during the same period last year.

At Dubai bourse, profits of four Takaful insurance companies hit Dh12.4 million, recovering losses of Dh155 million sustained during the same period last year.

National insurance companies listed at UAE stock markets account for 46 per cent of total insurance premiums nationwide, according to latest industry statistics.