International General Insurance Holdings (IGI), which has received all the insurance regulatory approvals it needs to complete its business combination with Tiberius Acquisition Corporation, has published its preliminary condensed unaudited financial results for 2019.
Profit after tax stood at US$23.5 million (around 18.4 million), which is lower than 2018’s US$25.5 million (around £20 million). IGI’s core operating income, meanwhile, amounted to US$21.1 million (around £16.5 million) – also a slip compared to US$28.6 million (around £22.4 million) previously.
As for the company’s gross written premium, a higher figure was recorded, from US$301.6 million (around £236 million) in 2018 to US$349.2 million (around £273.3 million) this time around. The combined ratio for last year was 94%; 2018, 89%.
Commenting on the numbers, IGI founder, vice chair, and chief executive Wasef Jabsheh nonetheless described 2019 as a strong year of growth for the firm.
“Our results reflect IGI’s ability to quickly take advantage of hardening market conditions, increasing our net written premiums by 24% year-over-year,” noted Jabsheh. “IGI experienced rate increases of approximately 13% year-over-year across our book of business in 2019. We are experiencing continued momentum in rates, and in the fourth quarter of 2019, rate increases were above 20% on average.
“Early indications in 2020 suggest pricing momentum is continuing to accelerate. We are seeing notable opportunities in most non-US long-tail specialty lines, downstream energy risks, and specialty lines across the MENA region where there is increasing dislocation and where IGI is particularly well-positioned with a strong presence on the ground. We are optimistic that these market conditions will continue to provide us with more opportunities to leverage our market position to generate continued profitable growth.”
The CEO added that the decision to pursue a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market through the business combination with Tiberius is part of IGI’s strategy to accelerate growth as it will allow them to deploy new capital.
“Our specialty insurance expertise in key lines and differentiated geographic presence in the right markets uniquely positions IGI to capitalise on the opportunities ahead of us,” he noted. “We anticipate that the transaction will close on March 17, 2020.”
