20 April 2015 News

Profits soar at Qatar Re in 2014

Reinsurance company Qatar Re has posted a strong set of results including impressive growth for 2014 as it benefited from diversification.

Its profits grew to $16 million in the year ended December 31, 2014, compared with $0.5 million in 2013. Qatar Re said that the improvement needs to be set against a backdrop of investments in its staff and infrastructure as well as prior-year underwriting losses unrelated to its current portfolio.

Qatar Re’s gross written premiums increased by almost 60 percent to $536 million, compared with $37 million in 2013. The reinsurer said it was already benefiting from its broad diversification which it had sought since its repositioning as a global reinsurer.

During 2014, Qatar Re’s North American business grew considerably as the company’s Bermuda branch became fully operational. The Americas now account for 24 percent of the firm’s total portfolio, an increase from 14 percent in 2013, while European business decreased in share to 48 percent in 2014, from 52 percent in 2013.

The reinsurer recently received approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to establish a representative office in Singapore. Micky Lee has been appointed to act as the Singapore office’s representative.

Lee joins from Asia Capital Re (ACR) where he last served as chief underwriting officer treaty. Previously he was ACR’s head of property.

Gunther Saacke, Qatar Re’s chief executive officer, said: “In 2014 we firmly established ourselves as a Top 50 global reinsurer. Our strong financial performance testifies to our accomplishments in building a resilient book of business, growing our client franchise, improving our systems and establishing a powerful team of acknowledged reinsurance professionals. After significant upfront investments in staffing and infrastructure, we are now starting to see attractive earnings coming through.

“In 2015 we will maintain our momentum. The January renewals generated premium growth of 25 percent on our renewable book. Qatar Re will further grow and diversify, both in terms of geographies and in lines of business.”

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk