MNRB’s net profit rises to RM140.1m amid pandemic

by TMR / pic by TMR FILE

MNRB Holdings Bhd saw its net profit rise 48.4% to RM140.1 million for the nine-month period ended Dec 31, 2020 (9MFY21), compared to RM94.4 million recorded in the same period last year.

The group registered a 12.4% increase in its gross premiums and Takaful contributions to RM1.81 billion in 9MFY21 from RM1.61 billion recorded in the same period last year.

MNRB president and group CEO Zaharudin Daud (picture) said despite operating in a challenging and unprecedented pandemic situation for almost a year, the group’s operating subsidiaries continue to remain resilient.

“We also did very well to contribute to the highest 9M 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 yesterday.

The group’s reinsurance subsidiary, Malaysian Reinsurance Bhd (Malaysian Re), recorded a 10.3% growth in its gross premium to RM1.04 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% to RM76.8 million compared to RM48.1 million recorded in the same period last year, on better underwriting performance.

MNRB’s general takaful business, Takaful Ikhlas General Bhd, also recorded significant growth in its gross contribution, which increased by 36.5% to RM318.5 million in 9MFY21 compared to RM233.3 million in the same corresponding period last year.

Correspondingly, Takaful Ikhlas General’s net profit soared 65.7% 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 gross contribution grew 2.3% to RM450.9 million in 9MFY21 from RM440.7 million recorded previously.

Its net profit, however, declined by 39.9% 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 on 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 has gradually improved since then,” the CEO explained.

On investment performance, the group’s total investment income for 9MFY21 reduced slightly by 2.7% to RM362.1 million from RM372 million recorded in the same period last year, mainly due to the lower fair value gain from its sukuk portfolio, compared to the same period last year.

“With the strong prospect of economic recovery in 2021, especially after the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, we foresee the investment climate to improve in the final quarter,” he added.

Read our previous report here