Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: National Takaful Company (Watania) on Thursday reported turning profitable in the second quarter and the first half of 2017.

The takaful firm posted a net profit of AED 2.66 million ($724,000) in Q2-17 versus AED 1.07 million ($291,000) in losses in the same period of 2016, according to a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

The profit achievement came on the back of a 173.16% surge in revenues to AED 24.23 million in Q2-17 compared to AED 8.87 million a year ago.

Watania was also profitable in the first six months of 2017, achieving AED 2.69 million in profits against AED 1.56 million in losses in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the company’s financials, chairman Ali Bin Harmel Al Dhaheri said that in 2016, Watania had halted some of its operations which had resulted in losses across several of its sectors, in addition it had “developed a clear strategy to identify and develop the profitable sectors".

“The success of this strategy was reflected in the numbers that were achieved for the first time in [Watania’s] history. The results showed that Takaful operations have achieved a surplus of AED 44,000 compared to a deficit of around [AED] 7.3 million,” the chairman revealed.

Watania began 2017 on a positive note, he said, highlighting: “We controlled the expenses, claims were managed properly. National Takaful Company [Watania] is among [the] best top five takaful companies.”

The chairman revealed that his company was planning to launch new products and invest in several sectors, such as technology, so as to provide easier access to its business partners and customers, while trimming the company’s cost of operations.

Watania is also planning to invest in “learning and development and building underwriting skills that will help [the company] to write profitable business in [its] core product segments,” according to the statement.

The UAE’s takaful industry is undergoing challenging times, Al Dhaheri noted, adding that new investment and solvency regulations are “putting strains forcing some companies to focus on operational profitability”.

“The need to improve [the] performance of this sector is evident from market data,” the chairman concluded.