Sharply improved earnings from reinsurance activities and a boost to investment income have transformed Arab Insurance Group's (Arig's) fortunes in 1995. The group reported net profits for the first half of 1995 at $17.8 million, compared with $275,000 for the same period last year (MEED 10:11:95).

Arig says it is recovering from the recent down-cycle in the insurance industry. Gross premiums reached $189 million to June 1995, $10 million higher than at the same period last year. Arig also benefited from a strong performance of its investment income, which almost doubled to $16 million during the period, reflecting the recovery in the world's financial markets.

'Our strong position in the middle of 1995 was the congruent effect of our dedicated internal focus on controlling quality and costs, and overall market improvements,' Arig chairman Abdel-Wahab al-Tammar said in a statement. 'And fortunately we have not suffered so much from natural causes and commercial catastrophes as in previous years, which would have adversely affected our fortunes and those of the international reinsurance industry.'