Amana Takaful Insurance records a Billion in GWP

Amana Takaful Insurance recorded its first year of premium income above Rs 1 billion in 2008 together with significant improvement to the bottom line, fittingly celebrating its 10th year of operations in Sri Lanka. As the pioneer and leader of the Takaful concept that embodies mutuality and ethics, this milestone demonstrates the acceptance and development of the Takaful concept in Sri Lanka.

"Ranked among the top eight players in the General Insurance sector and ranked ninth place in the Life Insurance sector in Sri Lanka is a significant achievement for us at Amana Takaful Insurance. Despite many adversities, both local and global, we have recorded above industry average growth since our inception. Topping the Rs.1 billion mark is our biggest achievement to date and we will continue to grow from strength to strength," said Mr. Tyeab Akbarally, Chairman, Amana Takaful Insurance.

Gross Written Premium (GWP) grew by 26.56% to record Rs 1,024 Mn, which is well above the industry average. Life insurance showed major growth where GWP grew by 44% to reach Rs. 188 Mn. General Insurance recorded a growth of 23% to achieve a GWP of  Rs. 835 Mn. Total assets grew by 14.87% to reach Rs.1,053 Mn in 2008 as against Rs. 917 Mn in 2007.

The company also achieved a significant improvement over 2007 in its bottom line to reduce its Operating Loss by 65.7%. Prudent underwriting and improved investment income contributed mainly to this, showing much promise for Amana Takaful Insurance.

"Though our investment income grew significantly, one of our main challenges remains to be the dearth of Islamic investment opportunities in the country. Whilst conventional insurance companies in Sri Lanka largely benefit from the high returns on investment, as a Takaful operator, our investment opportunities are limited. Islamic investment opportunities are still in its infancy in Sri Lanka," Mr Akbarally added.

Mr Ehsan Zaheed, Director / Chief Executive Officer commenting on the performance said, "We had improved on many areas last year, based on our learnings of 2007. Our claims management and internal processes were revamped and we had healthy income from our investments as a result of several Islamic investment tie ups with banks. 2009 looks even more promising and we are very positive that we will do better this year, especially since its our 10th year of operations".

Consolidated results were boosted due to the injection of fresh thinking and investment in 2008 into areas of Life insurance and Medical insurance that materialized.

Mr Akbarally further commented, "We expect a significant growth in the Family Takaful business in 2009 and also from the Medical insurance business, which we see as a positive growth sector requiring good and proactive management. There is a lot of scope for medical insurance in Sri Lanka, given the high cost of quality residential medication." 

Amana Takaful Insurance's primary focus is into 'ethical insurance', the essence of Takaful, where transparency and fairness to the community of participants and customers have been built in to the service standards and business processes.

Amana Takaful Insurance is today an established Sri Lankan brand having begun its operations in 1999 in collaboration with Takaful Malaysia, one of the largest Takaful operators in the world. Its operations cover most of Sri Lanka, servicing clients through 18 locations in the West, South, North Central, East and Central hills. Amana Takaful Insurance also has a fully fledged operation in the Maldives.

Link: http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=46625