Qatar Insurance Company, the parent of Bermudian-based Qatar Re, made a profit of $182 million last year.

Gross written premiums were $3.5 billion, an increase of 8 per cent.

Although the company was impacted by severe catastrophe losses in the second half of the year, its combined ratio decreased from 105.8 per cent to 101.3 per cent.

The underlying combined ratio — excluding prior-year reserve developments and natural and man-made catastrophe losses — was 98.7 per cent.

Khalifa Abdulla Turki Al Subaey, president and chief executive officer of QIC Group, said: “For the global insurance industry, 2017 and 2018 were the costliest back-to-back years on record. Insurers and reinsurers had to digest catastrophe losses close to $230 billion.

“Still, rate increases remain elusive as the growth of alternative capital with lower return hurdles places secular and not just cyclical pressure on (re)insurance margins in the low-frequency, high-severity space.

“Against this backdrop, our strategic decision, taken more than a year ago, to shift the underwriting focus to a lower-volatility segment has proven right.”

The group said it has entered a phase of consolidation in its international operations, shifting its underwriting to lower-volatility classes and shedding underpriced business.

Mr Al Subaey, said: “This comprehensive de-risking was successfully completed towards the end of 2018 and we should be able to reap the fruit of this effort in 2019 and beyond.

“At the same time, as Qatar’s dominant insurer and a leading regional operator and investor, our group is set to benefit from Qatar’s impressive recovery from the economic blockade that was imposed on the nation by some of its neighbouring countries in June 2017. For these reasons, we are cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the year even though global economic and industry uncertainties continue to loom large.”

QIC’s international carriers, Qatar Re, Antares, QIC Europe Limited and Markerstudy achieved gross written premiums of $$2.7 billion, and increase of 11 per cent, year-on-year. Qatar Re is now ranked at 27 among the global top 50 reinsurers, according to AM Best.