Asian Re increases income by 8% in 2005

Asia

The Asian Reinsurance Corporation (Asian Re) increased its gross premium income by 7.9% to US$24.8mn in 2005. Asian Re also achieved an operating profit of $1.2mn, a 10.2% increase over the previous year. The company, which is technically a regional intergovernmental agency, was set up by the governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Butan, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, India, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand, held its annual management board meeting in Bangkok late last month. According to the annual report, Asian Re posted a combined ratio of 94.1% last year, an improvement of 5.3 points over 2004. One of the management board’s main objectives for the next five years is to increase the company’s shareholders’ capital to $100mn. Asian Re administers the Asian Large Property Risk Pool. The board is also looking at amending the constitution of Asian Re to enable member states of the UN, private sector insurers, and multi-lateral bodies to become associate members of the company.