Noor Takaful sees gross premium income over Dh200m

Noor Takaful, a UAE Islamic insurance provider, expects gross premium income to rise by a fifth to more than Dh200 million ($54 million) in 2011, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.

The company, launched in 2009, nearly doubled gross premium income in 2010, but growth should stabilise around 20 per cent this year, said Parvaiz Siddiq in an interview.

"We're planning a 20 per cent rise in gross premium income in excess of Dh200 million," he said, adding that the competitive landscape remained challenging.

The UAE insurance market is extremely competitive, with nine companies providing Islamic insurance, or takaful, and over 50 firms providing conventional insurance, but Siddiq said he doubted there would be much takeover activity in the near term. "In the UAE, I think consolidation may not happen," he said.

 "Companies here are small companies having small capitalisation. With their small premium base they can still service their capital, so consolidation is difficult."

Siddiq said Noor Takaful was currently focused on organic growth within the emirates rather than acquisitions.

Global takaful industry premiums are expected to reach $12 billion in 2011, up 31 per cent from last year, according to a report by accountant firm Ernst & Young.

Takaful is similar to mutual insurance, but there is a clear segregation of the assets owned by members and those owned by the insurer. Islamic insurers keep away from investments in risky assets and prefer to put their funds in fixed-income products.

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