Kuala Lumpur, 3 March 2022 – MNRB Holdings Berhad (MNRB) announced its financial results for the nine-month period ended 31 December 2021 (9M FY2022). The Group recorded a 16.7% increase in its Gross Written Premiums and Takaful Contributions to RM2.1 billion as compared to RM1.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Its third quarter Gross Written Premiums and Takaful Contributions increased by 15.5% to RM770.0 million from RM666.7 million recorded in the same quarter last year. Net investment income for the 9M FY2022, however, came in lower compared to the same period last year, causing a decline in the Group’s Net Profit by 54.8% to RM63.3 million.
Commenting on the performance of MNRB Group for the period under review, Zaharudin Daud, President & Group Chief Executive Officer of MNRB said, “We were mainly impacted by the short-term volatility in our investment results, but we expect this to be temporary given the current strong recovery of our economy. In addition, the ongoing developments of COVID-19 pandemic, especially with the emergence of the new variant in December 2021, had continued to impose operational challenges to the Group. Apart from this, the recent floods and recent large losses also impacted our business. Amid these challenges, our operating subsidiaries remained robust and continued to focus on delivering credible top line growth”.
Malaysian Re remains resilient
The Group’s reinsurance subsidiary, Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re), registered a growth of 23.5% in its Gross Premiums and Gross Contributions to RM1.3 billion as compared to RM1.0 billion registered in the same period last year. This was mainly driven by healthy growth of both its international and domestic business segments.
The devastating flood incident triggered by the year-end monsoon caused massive damage to the properties and livelihood of people from many states across the nation. As the national reinsurer, Malaysian Re remains committed to supporting the industry in paying out claims to affected policyholders and help them get back on their feet. This major flood event and other large losses negatively impacted the underwriting results. Combined with lower net investment income arising from market volatility, Malaysian Re’s Net Profit declined by 74.3% to RM19.7 million as compared to RM76.8 million in 9M FY2021. Nevertheless, Malaysian Re remains resilient in the face of its challenges and will continue on its growth path while supporting the domestic insurance industry.
Takaful IKHLAS General sustains business growth
The Group’s general takaful arm, Takaful Ikhlas General Berhad (Takaful IKHLAS General)’s Gross Contribution rose by 10.5% to RM352.0 million in 9M FY2022 from RM318.5 million in the same period last year, mainly contributed by the Agency force for all main classes, Motor, Fire and P.A. The period under review recorded favourable business growth from its Motor Takaful segment, which accumulated higher contributions by 12.5% to RM239.2 million from RM212.6 million recorded in the corresponding period in the previous year.
The higher Gross Contribution drove higher acquisition costs, and together with lower net investment income, resulted in Takaful IKHLAS General’s Net Profit decreasing to RM19.1 million from the RM22.2 million recorded in the same period last year.
“Providing excellent customer experience remains a priority for us. Understanding the importance of providing peace of mind and immediate assistance to all our customers, we had taken initiatives to expedite claims payments to all our certificate owners affected by the recent flood incident. In the wake of the recent flood catastrophe, Takaful IKHLAS General had also, in January this year, announced free towing service for eligible certificate owners affected by flood incidents,” added Zaharudin.
Takaful IKHLAS Family records improvements
Meanwhile, the Group’s family takaful business, Takaful Ikhlas Family Berhad (Takaful IKHLAS Family) registered an 8.9% improvement in Gross Contributions to RM491.0 million from RM450.9 million registered in 9M FY2021. This came on the back of higher contributions from its Group products mainly credit-related products as well as regular individual products.
Takaful IKHLAS Family’s Net Profit recorded a slight decline to RM22.0 million from RM24.3 million recorded in the same period last year, mainly due to lower net investment income compared to last year.
“The re-opening of the economic sectors and the nation’s growing consciousness on the importance of having takaful protection are among factors contributing to the growth of Takaful IKHLAS Family’s Gross Contributions for the period under review. In continuing its efforts to promote the importance of takaful to Malaysians, Takaful IKHLAS Family recently launched its latest product “IKHLAS Perlindungan Tenang”, which is in support of Perlindungan Tenang, a national initiative to provide affordable takaful and insurance plans for all Malaysians”, added Zaharudin.
Enhancing the Group’s business operations
“The period under review saw MNRB’s continuing efforts in strengthening our business while carefully mitigating the setbacks imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We shall continue with our strategic transformation journey, including improving our digital capabilities, deepen our partner relationships and enriching our customer experience. In this regard, we hope to bring about more enhancements in areas such as online platforms to ensure all customers’ needs and requirements are met as well improving our operational efficiency,” said Zaharudin.
