Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Company Q.P.S.C. (QGRI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Your line is now open. [ Mohammed ], you may begin.

Hi. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is [indiscernible] from [ Canby Financial Services ]. I would like to welcome everyone to Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Company's Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results Conference Call. On this call, from QGIR, we have Mr. Khalid Al-Aswad, who is the Head of Finance; Mr. Ahmad Almasry, who is the IR Officer. We will conduct this conference call first with brief comments on the presentation followed by the Q&A. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Ahmad Almasry to get us started. Ahmad, please go ahead.

Thank you, Mohammed. Thank you for letting us -- for this opportunity. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to welcome all of you to the earnings call for Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance for the second quarter of 2021. My name is Ahmad Almasry, I'm Executive Investor Relation Officer. I have the pleasure to introducing to our -- introducing you to our Head of Finance, Mr. Khalid Al-Aswad who will be leading this earnings conference call together with me. I will start with the obligatory disclaimer, which is thereafter will be provide you with the summary of our operational and financial results. At the end of our conference call, you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. I will now read out our disclaimer for this conference call. So this call may contain, constitute or imply information or forward-looking statements regarding operational or financial performance and the future of QGIR Co and its subsidiaries. Such statements are based on current expectation and assumptions of QGIR Co's management with their best knowledge and diligent assessment as of today. The actual outcomes regarding these statements in the future may be beyond the control of our company or any management of QGIR Co. As such, QGIR Co and its directors and officers shall not be liable and in any way for any cost or losses, resulting for the use of all reliance by any party on forward-looking statements made throughout the duration of this call. I'm delighted to give the floor to our Head of Finance, Mr. Khalid, who will start with you to update you on the QGIR Co's first half of 2021 results. Please, Mr. Khalid.

Thank you, Ahmad. I would glad to announce that QGIR still has had a aggressive and interesting half 2021, despite the hindrance in the context of the COVID-19 situation. Our midyear results show 90% equity return to shareholders of QAR 65.6 million compared to QAR 26.5 million for the same period last year, and hence, value creation for our shareholders. Most importantly, the whole results shows the growth aspect measures management has taken starting 2020, have many minimized the effects of the pandemic on our business operations, and are leading the company into the right direction. In first half 2021, okay, who continues to apply a brutal approach while performing a detailed current portfolio review, and we have adjusted risk and return accordingly across our current base. This will have a positive impact on our profitability in the year 2021, and is expected to continue to benefit our company in the future. Furthermore, the continued cost management exercises undertaken have resulted in a significant decrease in administrative and finance costs for the group. QGIR remains in good financial conditions. In addition, our insurance business continues to show a strong business development in the first half 2021 locally as well as in international market. I will now discuss with you the financial results in more detail before handing over to my colleague, Ahmad, to take you through the outlook. To start off, I will provide you with the high level results before we get into the details. QGIR Co first half 2020 total reinsurance revenue stands at about QAR 409 million, with the gross written premium resulting 55% and those written contribution from General Takaful representing 25%. During the period, management has taken drastic measures to enhance QGIR Co profitability by undertaking a current portfolio review, applying a prudent approach in relation to claims management. This will lead to strong underwriting results in the year 2021 and going forward. Despite the coronavirus pandemic affect on all sectors, we succeed to keep our investment portfolio performance as per our expectation. And this is income for the first half 2021 reached about QAR 76 million. Meanwhile, we exercising to our continuous drive to enhance profitability have successfully resulted in reduction in finance cost by 26% and operating and administrative expenses by 9% in comparison to the same period last year. The above resulted in a shareholders' net profit, about QAR 66 million in first half 2021 and an earnings per share QAR 0.075 compared with a net profit of QAR 26.5 million and earnings per share QAR 0.030 for the same period last year. Now I will just hand it over to Mr. Ahmad.

Thank you, Mr. Khalid. Thank you for this brief. So guys, for the outlook, the outlook for the rest of the year, looking ahead despite of the doubt of the economic recovery worldwide. There are continued efforts and measures are being taken by the management team to create and enhance the shareholder value. So now amid these uncertain times, QGIR Co has continued to implement risk management practices to effectively monitor and manage any potential business disruption and impact that could arise from different businesses and operations. Our primary objective remains to expand our presence in the local markets and ensure that our clients' need are met through the highest quality of products and success. We will continue to be alert and to be adaptive to the changes in the market to serve our clients better while maintaining our shareholders' best interest. We have a highly experienced team that is continuously evaluating ways in which further costs -- in which to further cut costs where appropriate and carefully assess the strategic direction of the company for the long term to grow QGIR Co's business. Although it is not possible to comment on these price outlook of the financial market, under the guidance of Mr. Saeed and the management team, we are certain of the continuation of the success of that QGIR Co have enjoyed in 2020, which will be continued in 2021. And looking forward for further growth in the future. For here, my speech is ended. Thank you very much for your time and the attention. This call will be -- as well as the investor presentation, will be available on our IR section on our website. On behalf of the whole QJIR Co team, thank you very much, and we wish you to have a very nice weekend. Thank you.

Operator, any questions, please?

[Operator Instructions] And it appears we have no questions over the audio at this time, sir. I would like to turn the conference back for any additional remarks.