Al Wathba earns Dh6m net for first nine months

Al Wathba Insurance Co (Al Wathba) has earned a net profit of Dh6.46 million for the first nine months of this year, a senior company official confirmed yesterday.

The earnings per share (EPS) stood at Dh0.11. No figures for the corresponding period last year were available.

"The outlook for the next three months is good. We expect overall results for 2002 to be good with healthy net profit," the official told Gulf News.

Net profit climbed up due to higher premium income as also higher income from investments, he said. In 2001, the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) listed company earned a net profit of Dh526,000. No dividends were declared last year.

According to the company's income statement, dividend income was Dh2.79 million for the first nine months this year while interest income was Dh277,000.

Net underwriting profit stood at Dh4.84 million and the gains from sale of investments were Dh2.96 million.

While the total income was Dh11.22 million for the period ending September, 2002, the total expenses were Dh4.76 million. The company's balance sheet was not provided.

At the end of 2001, Al Wathba had total assets of Dh109.3 million. The share capital of the company is Dh60 million comprising 60 million ordinary shares of Dh1 each.

The Abu Dhabi headquartered company underwrites all classes of insurance except life. The company has four branches, one each in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah.