Press Release
VIS Reaffirms IFS Rating of Pak-Qatar Family Takaful Limited
Karachi, December 07, 2023: VIS Credit Rating Company Limited has reaffirmed the Insurer Financial Strength Rating of Pak Qatar Family Takaful Limited (‘PQFTL’ or ‘the Company’) at ‘A++ (IFS)’ (Single A Plus Plus IFS). The IFS rating of ‘A++(IFS)’ denotes strong capacity to meet policy holders and contract obligations. Risk factors are low, and the impact of any adverse business and economic factors is expected to be small. Outlook on the assigned rating is ‘Stable’. The previous rating action was announced on June 29, 2022.
The IFS rating assigned to PQFTL draws comfort from its strong sponsorship profile comprising of prominent Qatar-based financial institutions including Qatar International Islamic Bank and Qatar Islamic Insurance Company along with the joint-venture company, Pak-Qatar Investments (Pvt.) Limited (PQIL). The challenging macroeconomic environment during the rating review period reduced business activity, reflected particularly in the decline of individual first-year and renewal contributions, owing to inflationary pressure on disposable incomes. However, the Company aimed at arresting policy withdrawals by introducing a new non-conventional insurance product offering competitive savings returns in line with the high interest rate environment.
Premium rate hardening coupled with cyclical uptick in group renewal contributions during 4QCY23 are expected to uplift the topline going forward; materialization of targets will be an important factor from the rating’s perspective. Overall underwriting performance depicted a downturn owing largely to sizeable increase in claims from the Group Health segment and policy withdrawals despite improvement in operational efficiencies. However, growth in investment income, emanating largely from debt-securities, helped boost the bottom-line. Underwriting activity is supported by retakaful treaties with renowned international reinsurers, however, majority of underwriting risk is incurred by the Company owing to low cessation ratios on a timeline basis. Furthermore, the Company’s investment strategy witnessed a shift towards a more conservative approach in conjunction with the adverse stock market performance with the overall investment portfolio tilting towards government securities. Moreover, with sufficient available liquid assets as well as adequate capital coverage of claims, liquidity and capitalization levels remained satisfactory. The rating remains dependent upon maintaining profitability, market share and financial indicators aligned with the assigned rating benchmarks.
For further information on this ratings announcement, please contact Ms. Maham Qasim at 042-35723411-13 (Ext: 8010) or the undersigned (Ext: 207) on 021-35311861-64 or email at info@vis.com.pk.
Sara Ahmed
Director
Applicable Rating Criteria: Life Insurance Family Takaful (October 2023)
https://docs.vis.com.pk/docs/LifeTakaful-Oct-2023.pdf
VIS Issue/Issuer Rating Scale
https://docs.vis.com.pk/docs/VISRatingScales.pdf