Bahrain National Holding Company (Stock Exchange Code: BNH) announced its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2018. The Group achieved a net profit of BD3.49 million, compared to BD2.25 million in last year, an increase of 55%. Net profit attributable to the shareholders for the year ended 31st December 2018 was BD3.28 million, compared to BD2.01 million during the last year, an increase of 56.5%. Gross premiums increased by 16% to BD 33.58 million compared to BD 28.89 million in 2017, due to strong growth in medical and general insurance. Net earned premium increased by 5.6% in to BD16.70 million, compared to BD15.82 million of last year. Underwriting profits showed a marked improvement to BD724 thousand during the year 2018, compared to a loss of BD432 thousand in last year, partly due to improvement in claims control. As a result, earnings per share was 29.4 fils compared to 18.8 fils for the year of 2017. The total comprehensive income for the year ended 31st December 2018 was BD2.75 million, compared to BD3.44 million during the previous period of last year, a decrease of 20%.
The increase in the net profit for the year of 2018 in comparison to the last year can be primarily attributed to increase in net earned premium, lower net claims incurred as well as the strong performance of the investment portfolio.
The total shareholders’ equity (excluding non-controlling interest) as at the end of year 2018 was BD48.85 million compared to BD47.84 million as at the end of the previous year.
The total assets reached BD94.38 million compared to BD86.31 as at the end of previous year, with an increase of 9.4%, primarily due to increase in reinsurers’ share of technical reserves, financial investments and cash and cash equivalents.
For the fourth quarter ended 31st December 2018, the Group achieved a net profit of BD435 thousand, compared to loss of BD856 thousand during the fourth quarter of the previous year. The net profit attributable to the shareholders during fourth quarter was BD424 thousand, compared to loss of BD881 thousand during the fourth quarter of previous year. The Group achieved net earned premiums in the fourth quarter of BD4.37 million, compared to BD4.07 million in the fourth quarter of last year, an increase of 7.4%. The Group reported underwriting profit of BD268 thousand during the fourth quarter, compared to underwriting loss of BD1.21 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. As a result, earnings per share for the fourth quarter was 3.8 fils compared to a loss per share of 8.2 fils during the same period of 2017. The total comprehensive income for the fourth quarter ended 31st December 2018 was BD126 thousand, compared to total comprehensive loss of BD 744 thousand during same period of 2017.
The increase in the net profit for the Fourth quarter in comparison to the fourth quarter of last year relates primarily to increase in net earned premium, lower net claims incurred as well as the strong performance of the investment portfolio.
Mr. Farouk Almoayyed, Chairman of Bahrain National Holding, commented: “The group has demonstrated its resilience in its underwriting performance by bouncing back strongly in 2018. The growth in underwriting profitability in the face of challenging market conditions is testimony to the strong brand loyalty our insurance subsidiaries enjoy with our customers. This along with the continuing performance of our investment portfolio, has helped the group post good results for the year”.
Mr. Sameer AlWazzan, Chief Executive of BNH, commented: “After a challenging 2017 and first half 2018, it is indeed satisfying to witness the results of our efforts at controlling claims, while maintaining a solid reserve position. It is gratifying to note the gains in market share particularly in medical and general insurance which helped us maintain our leadership position in Bahrain. We are working on enhancing our IT systems and related processes, that will allow us to roll out more innovative and digital services in the near future to satisfy our customer needs”.
