KUALA LUMPUR: MNRB Holdings Bhd's (MNRB) gross premiums and takaful contributions rose 12.4 per cent to RM1.81 billion in the nine month (9M) period ended 31 December 2020 (FY21) from RM1.61 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The group net profit jumped to RM140.1 million in 9M FY21, 48.4 per cent higher than RM94.4 million recorded last year.
President and group chief executive officer Zaharudin Daud said despite operating in a challenging and unprecedented pandemic situation for almost a year now, the company's all operating subsidiaries continue to remain resilient and did well to contribute to the highest nine months net profit ever achieved by the MNRB Group.
"This has even surpassed the full year net profit of RM132.9 million recorded in the previous financial year," he said in a statement today.
The group's reinsurance subsidiary, Malaysian Reinsurance Bhd (Malaysian Re), recorded a 10.3 per cent growth in its gross premium to RM1,03 billion from RM941.1 million in the same period last year.
This was mainly driven by the growth from its overseas business.
Malaysian Re's net profit surged by 59.7 per cent to RM76.8 million as compared to RM48.1 million recorded in the same period last year, mainly driven by better underwriting performance.
Zaharudin said Malaysian Re's proactive and effective business approach had demonstrated solid results for the 9M of FY21.
"As we move forward, Malaysian Re will continue to leverage on its strong insurer financial strength (IFS) rating to expand its presence in the international markets," he said.
Fitch Ratings, had earlier in February, affirmed Malaysian Re's IFS rating of 'A' (Strong) with a stable outlook.
The group's general takaful business, Takaful Ikhlas General Bhd (Takaful IKHLAS General) also recorded a significant growth in its gross contribution, which increased by 36.5 per cent to RM318.5 million in 9M FY21 as compared to RM233.3 million in the same period last year.
Correspondingly, Takaful IKHLAS General's net profit soared 65.7 per cent to RM22.2 million from RM13.4 million in the same period last year.
On the performance of the Group's family takaful subsidiary, Takaful Ikhlas Family Bhd's (Takaful IKHLAS Family) gross contribution grew 2.3 per cent to RM450.9 million in 9M FY21 from RM440.7 million recorded previously.
Net profit declined by 39.9 per cent to RM24.3 million from RM40.4 million recorded in the same period last year due to lower fair value gain from its investment portfolio.
"The COVID-19 pandemic had some impact to the growth of our family takaful businesses, especially due to the movement restrictions faced by our agents as well as the slower loan growth experienced by our Bancatakaful partners.
"We have seen slower growth in the first quarter of the financial year, but business had gradually improved since then", said Zaharudin.
On investment's performance, the group's total investment income for 9M FY21 reduced slightly by 2.7 per cent to RM362.1 million from RM372.0 million recorded in the same period last year, mainly due to the lower fair value gain from its sukuk portfolio, as compared to the same period last year.
"With the strong prospect of economic recovery in 2021 especially after the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines, we foresee the investment climate to improve in the final financial quarter," said Zaharudin.
"Right now, our focus remains on delivering the best products and services to protect our customers and business partners, as well as driving operational efficiencies to deliver robust performance to all our stakeholders during these uncertain times", he said.