The combined annual profit of the insurance companies listed on the UAE financial markets for 2017 surged to Dh1.4 billion ($381 million) from Dh900 million in 2016, a media report said.

The growth is attributed to hiking premiums resulting from the updated unified insurance policy which went into force effective January 2017, and strengthened the insurance companies' financial resources, reported Emirates news agency Wam.

According to a Wam analysis of the financial statements of the 31 companies, 22 firms have posted profits, while the rest recorded reduced profitability.

The profits of 17 ADEX-listed companies increased by 43.3 per cent to Dh756 million from Dh471 million in 2016, while the 14 companies listed in DFM had their profits grow 66.6 per cent to Dh715. million from Dh429 million in 2016.

The National Takaful Insurance Company was the highest growing firm, with its profits jumping from Dh400,000 in 2016 to Dh7.6 million by the end of 2017, followed by the Union Insurance Company which turned losses of Dh10.5 million in 2016 into profits of Dh10.3 million by the end of 2017.

Orient Insurance still comes first, posting Dh355 million in profit by the end of 2017, a growth of 17 per cent from Dh302 million in 2016, followed by the Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company which booked profit of Dh227 million.