Company achieves positive post-merger results

AMMAN — Solidarity-First Insurance has posted positive results over the past few months, according to the company’s Chairman Ashraf Bsiso. 

The company results have "exceeded expectations", Bsiso told reporters at a press conference on Sunday. 

During the first nine months of 2016, the company, created as a result of a merger between Yarmouk Insurance and First Insurance, a subsidiary of Solidarity Group Holding headquartered in Bahrain, recorded a 7 per cent growth in its profits, its Chief Executive Officer Ali Wazani indicated.

During the first three quarters, it has managed to increase its underwriting value to JD37 million from JD34 million in 2015, according to Wazani, who is also Jordan Insurance Federation chairman.

Solidarity-First Insurance will make use of the group’s expertise and practices in the areas of risk management and ICT systems, he added. 

The company is ranked fourth in terms of its market share in the insurance sector, which accommodates around 20 insurance companies.

Bsiso, who is also chief executive officer of the Bahrain-based Solidarity Group Holding, explained that the group is one of the founders of First Insurance, with an initial stake totalling 16 per cent in 2008.

"Solidarity group gradually raised its share in First Insurance until it acquired 70 per cent of its shares in 2014,” he said.

This reflects the group's confidence in the Jordanian market, he noted.

In 2015, the Investment Council agreed to offer incentives to insurance companies that are willing to merge, in a bid to salvage financially troubled companies and boost the sector’s performance.

The government offered them income tax exemptions for three years. It also relieved them from ownership transfer fees and other charges levied in the event of capital raise.