Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company has reported a drop in net profit to BD1.13 million ($3 million) in the first quarter of the year, from BD1.3 million for the same period last year.

The reduction was mainly due to the non-inclusion of dividends on shares, according to chief executive officer Ebrahim Al Rayes.

The adoption of automated unearned premium calculation to replace the old manual method resulted in additional provision of about BD270,000.

This process has decreased the technical profit from BD1.18 million in the first quarter of last year to BD1.07 million for the first quarter of this year.

The gross premium revenue decreased by three per cent from BD9.9 million in the first quarter of last year to BD9.7 million for the same period this year.

Earnings per share stood at 17 fils against 20 fils last time.

The return on shareholders' funds is 4.4 per cent compared with 5.4 per cent for the same period last year.

'The recent crisis had a detrimental effect on the Bahraini economy in general and on the insurance sector in particular,' said Al Rayes.

He said that he was sure that the strength and resilience of the Bahraini economy and the unity among its citizens will enable the company to overcome this crisis quickly.

'Assuming that the worst is over, the economy should be able to achieve the expected rate of growth in the remaining period of the year,' he said.

'This is expected to have a positive effect on the insurance sector in the coming period,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service