Kuala Lumpur, 31 May 2010 – MNRB Holdings Berhad (MNRB) today announced its unaudited financial results for the financial year ended 31 March 2010. The Group recorded a 14.6% improvement in its revenue, from RM1,173.8 million in the preceding year to RM1,345.2 million.

Chairing the Group’s Analysts Briefing, Encik Norazman Hashim, Executive Vice President & Group Chief Financial Officer of MNRB said, “The higher revenue was a result of an increase in the gross reinsurance premium written by our wholly-owned reinsurance subsidiary, Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re) and the increase in the wakalah fees earned by our Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. (Takaful IKHLAS) and MNRB Retakaful Berhad (MRT).”

The gross reinsurance premium written by Malaysian Re for the year ended 31 March 2010 amounted to RM1,091.2 million, which was an increase of 16.0% as compared to RM941.0 million recorded last year. The growth was mainly contributed by the higher gross premium from the overseas treaty business, as well as the increase in the gross premium from the local Motor and Fire businesses.

Meanwhile, Takaful IKHLAS recorded an improvement in its wakalah fees, from RM157.3 million in the same period last year to RM181.6 million. As for MRT, it registered a 95.7% improvement in its gross contribution, from RM23.2 million recorded last year to RM45.4 million.

Encik Norazman added, “The Group’s net profit increased by 73.0%, from RM26.3 million in the preceding year to RM45.5 million mainly due to the effect of release in unearned premium reserves (UPR) of Malaysian Re amounting to RM52.4 million (net of tax RM41.1 million) as a result of the change in the estimation during the year.  The higher net profit was also contributed by the higher share of profit of the reinsurance associate, higher investment income and higher wakalah fees earned by the Takaful IKHLAS and MRT.

The above increase, however, was partly offset by the provision for impairment loss of RM44.5 million made on MNRB’s investment in Principle Insurance Holdings Limited (PIHL). The Board of Directors of PIHL on 19 October 2009 had resolved for its subsidiary, Principle Insurance Company Limited (PICL), which is trading under the name of Salaam Insurance, to cease issuing new and renewed Takaful Contract and put the business into run-off. This decision was arrived at after PIHL was unsuccessful in raising the required capital to meet the United Kingdom’s Financial Service Authority (“FSA”) requirement. PIHL had also announced, on 28 April 2010, the conditional sale of its subsidiaries, PICL and Principle Marketing Services Limited to Al Salam Group Holding Company K.S.C.C - a member company of the Kuwait-based Al Madina Group, for an undisclosed sum. Given the uncertainty surrounding PIHL, the Company has made a full provision amounting to RM44.5 million in the current period for the impairment of its investment in PIHL.

“Given the encouraging performance of our economy, we expect that the Group would achieve better results in the coming financial year,” he also added.

MNRB Holdings Berhad is an investment holding company. Its wholly-owned subsidiaries are Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re), a general reinsurance company, Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. (Takaful IKHLAS), an Islamic insurance provider, MNRB Retakaful Berhad (MRT), a general and family retakaful operator and Malaysian Re (Dubai) Ltd. (MRDL), a company incorporated in Dubai, UAE, to underwrite the reinsurance business for Malaysian Re and to service Malaysian Re’s business partners in the MENA regions.  Another subsidiary company is MMIP Services Sdn Bhd (MSSB), the manager of the Malaysian Motor Insurance Pool (MMIP), a pool established by the local insurance industry to provide insurance coverage for vehicle owners who have difficulty in obtaining motor insurance coverage. In addition, its associate companies are Motordata Research Consortium Sdn Bhd (MRC), a company that manages database for standard motor parts, prices and repairs, whilst Labuan Reinsurance (L) Ltd. (Labuan Re), an offshore reinsurance company incorporated in the Labuan International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC), is an associate company of Malaysian Re. MNRB is listed on the Main Market of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad and its major shareholder is Amanah Raya Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn. Bhd. (Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera).

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