Takaful Emarat, the Shariah-compliant Life and Health insurance provider, has announced its audited financial results for the year ended 31st December 2016.

Takaful Emarat delivered strong growth across its core business for FY 2016 underpinned by the DHA’s roll out of mandatory health insurance in Dubai, as well as ongoing strict controls of the company’s general and administrative expenses. These initiatives were supported by the on-going digitisation of the company’s product portfolio, which further enhanced sales, with digital remaining a key element of the company’s growth strategy over the next three-year period.

Key financial highlights that the earned contributions increased by 31% to AED493.46 million for 2016 compared to AED377.89 million in 2015 due to ongoing distribution channel growth across both the Medical and Life lines of business. It added that total assets for FY 2016 were up 57% to AED688.14m compared to AED439.26m for 2015.

Takaful Emarat, post restructuring, has now delivered 3 years of consistent profitable growth, which is set to continue and accelerate as the company enters the next stage of its digital development and evolution. During FY 2016, Takaful Emarat continued to focus on expanding its distribution channel network, with the signing of a joint cooperation agreement with Ajman Bank. Under this agreement, Takaful Emarat will provide its insurance products and services to Ajman Bank’s significant customer base. This is in addition to Takaful Emarat’s existing distribution agreements with RAK Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, as well as Wahat Al Zaweya.

In support of this distribution strategy, the company also made significant progress with its digital strategy and the on-going digitisation of its insurance product portfolio and services. The company launched its online portal in H1 2016, and during H2 2016, Takaful Emarat enabled applicants to purchase and issue their mandatory health insurance online from a desktop or Takaful Emarat’s smartphone-enabled website.

Commenting on the announcement, Wael Al-Sharif, Takaful Emarat’s Chief Executive Officer, said, "2016 was another extremely successful year for Takaful Emarat. With the rollout of mandatory health insurance in Dubai, we have grown our customer base significantly with each customer now empowered via our digital strategy to access and manage their policies at any time through our online portal.