International General Insurance Holdings Ltd. (IGI) has reported largely positive results for both the fourth quarter and full-year periods in 2021, with Chairman and CEO Wasef Jabsheh describing it as “another excellent year” for the company.
But despite the strong performance, IGI’s reinsurance segment faced difficulties due to high claims, including from the European floods, which caused the segment to fall to a loss in Q4, and the underwriting result to shrink considerably over the full year.
IGI’s overall profit for Q4 was $9.1 million, compared with $7.6 million for the same period in the previous year, and for the whole of 2021 profit was $43.6 million, up from $27.2 million previously.
Similarly core operating income increased from $4.5 million to $13.6 million for the quarter and from $35.6 million to $53.1 million for the year, with IGI attributing the yearly increase to higher net premiums earned and total investment income, net, partially offset by an increase in net claims and claim adjustment expenses, net policy acquisition expenses, and general and administrative expenses.
The overall net underwriting result likewise improved from $14.7 million to $30.6 million for Q4 and from $77.4 million to $105.8 million for the year, largely driven by growth in net premiums earned, with the combined ratio standing at 83.8% and 86.4% for these periods, respectively.
Gross written premiums grew by 26.3% to $163.5 million for Q4 and by 16.8% to $545.6 million for the year, helped by new business generated across all segments and virtually all lines, as well as rate increases on existing business.
Premiums also increased within IGI’s reinsurance segment, growing from $2.8 million to $4.0 million for the quarter and from $19.3 million to $24.0 million for the year.
But the segment fell to a loss of $1.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 driven by a higher level of net claims and claim adjustment expenses, including the European floods, compared to a profit of $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
And for the full year, the net underwriting results for this segment were $2.4 million, compared to $9.5 million in 2020, again due to a higher level of net claims and claim adjustment expenses, including the European floods.
IGI’s reinsurance segment, which represented approximately 4% of the company’s gross written premiums for the full year of 2021, includes IGI’s inwards reinsurance portfolio.
“2021 was another excellent year for IGI as we reported consistently strong quarterly underwriting results and earnings, culminating in one of the best years in our 20-year history,” said CEO Jabsheh.
“IGI is a diverse group of individual risk underwriters with recognized expertise in many specialty lines. We have grown our business organically since inception, and the past two years have seen an acceleration of that. In 2021, on the back of significant growth in 2020, we increased our gross premiums more than 16% to $546 million, expanding into new lines and markets,” he continued.
“We have achieved these record results and continued to deliver high levels of service to our clients while continuing to navigate a prolonged period of global uncertainty. I look forward to our future with confidence, knowing that we are building on a very solid foundation that will continue to deliver strong total value creation to all our stakeholders.”
