IGI more than doubles profits in Q3 on new business surge and improved pricing

Specialist commercial re/insurer International General Insurance Holdings (IGI) raised its profits by more than double in the third quarter of 2020, driven by improved underwriting and increase in new business across virtually all lines, as well as improved renewal pricing.

IGI reported a net profit of $9.5 million for Q3, compared with $4.3 million in the prior year quarter. For the first nine months of the year, IGI made a net profit of $20.7 million, up from $19.2 million in the same period of 2019.

Its gross written premiums grew by 36.9 percent year on year in Q3 to $101.2 million, from $73.9 million in Q3 2019. For the first nine months of 2020, they grew by 29.8 percent to $337.7 million, from $260.2 million in the first nine months of 2019.

IGI’s combined ratio was 93.7 percent for Q3 2020, up from 89.3 percent in the same period of 2019. For the first nine months of the year, however, it came down to 86.5 percent, from 91.5 percent.

Wasef Jabsheh, chairman and chief executive officer at IGI, stated that its strong set of financial results, despite the challenges posed by COVID 19 and the frequency worldwide of catastrophe events, "is a testament to IGI’s diversified business profile, risk management, targeted business focus and broad geographic footprint"

“The pricing environment remains robust – with rates across our book of business up over 21 percent for the year-to-date – and we continue to thoughtfully, carefully, and profitably grow our book of business, as demonstrated by the 29.8 percent increase in gross written premiums so far this year. We remain cautious in managing our net exposures to minimize our overall risk profile, and again, this is demonstrated in our combined ratio of 93.7 percent for the third quarter and 86.5 percent for the year-to-date," Jabsheh added.