International General Insurance Holdings Ltd (IGI) has reported an after-tax loss of US$0.9 million for the first quarter of 2020, down from a net profit of US$6.5 million a year ago.
The loss was attributed to several effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including foreign exchange losses of US$11.9 million, due to the weakening of the company’s transactional currencies (Pound Sterling and Euro) against the US Dollar. It also cited mark-to-market adjustments in the equity investment portfolio, which resulted in an unrealized loss of US$4.6 million. Meanwhile, it noted net claims and claims expenses of US$2.0 million, primarily representing the cost of claims incurred but not yet reported.
IGI made a gross underwriting profit of US$23.2 million for the first quarter of 2020, almost doubling the US$11.8 million recorded a year ago. Its combined ratio was 81.3%, an improvement of 13.8 points from the previous year. Gross written premiums improved by 24% year-on-year to US$99.2 million from US$80.0 million previously.
“The first three months of 2020 have been extraordinary across the globe but particularly for IGI,” said Wasef Jabsheh, IGI’s chairman and CEO. “We became a public company and began trading on Nasdaq in mid-March while the world was experiencing unprecedented turmoil from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen significant turbulence across global financial and capital markets, disruption in re/insurance markets, and the way we do business has been upended.
“Our results for the first quarter of 2020 – similar to other re/insurance companies – clearly show the impacts of this crisis. While we recorded unrealized investment losses and significant fluctuations in our operating currencies, to date we have not recorded material underwriting losses as a direct result of the pandemic, but we are constantly monitoring this as the situation continues to evolve.”
