(MENAFN) The Islamic insurance sector in the GCC's growth slowed significantly to less than 1% in 2016, after years of annual growth in gross premiums of up to 20%.
The decelerate was driven by the introduction of new mandatory covers, as well as strong increases in premium rates in Saudi Arabia.
However, the pre-tax net income of the publicly listed companies in the sector improved materially to around USD683mln in 2016 from about USD274mln in 2015.
S&P Global Ratings' credit analyst Emir Mujkic said: "Now that more policies are adequately priced, overall premium growth has slowed."
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