Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) has announced a profit of US$148.5 million (SG$200.9 million) for the first nine months of 2021, up by 242% from the same period last year.

GIG attributed the strong growth to the improvement of its underwriting and investment performance results, as well as to the profits that arose from the acquisition of AXA’s operations in the Gulf region.

In September, GIG completed the buyout of AXA’s businesses in the region, in a deal valued at US$264 million. It involved AXA’s 50% stake in AXA Gulf, which operates in Bahrain, the UAE, Oman and Qatar, and a 34% stake in AXA Cooperative Insurance Company (Saudi Arabia).

GIG’s gross written premium for the first nine months was US$1.23 billion, growing 10.6% year over year. The company’s total assets grew 74%, from US$2.65 million to US$4.6 billion. Net technical reserves rose from US$593 million on Dec. 31, 2020, to US$1.6 billion as of Sept. 30. This increase, GIG said, represents a growth of 165% and supports the company’s technical operations, thereby strengthening its ability to withstand emergencies and risks that may rise in the future.

“Our results for the first nine months of 2021 reflect the strength of GIG as a group, its ability to take risks through diversifying revenue sources and our ability to preserve stakeholders’ benefits and protect their rights,” said Khaled Saoud Al Hasan (pictured above), chief executive officer of GIG. “This is also in line with our constant endeavour to provide the best insurance services to our valued customers in all markets we operate in, by adopting the necessary strategies to digitally transform our operations in digital distribution of products, digital claims services and other supporting functions.”