Global reinsurer Swiss Re forecast non-life insurance premiums in emerging markets (EMs) to post a real growth rate of 8% annually in the 2019-20 period, relative to an estimated rate of 7.8% in 2018, supported by stronger non-life business in China and India, and improving non-life sector growth dynamics in Africa and Latin America. In comparison, it forecast global non-life insurance premiums to increase by a real rate of about 3% annually in the 2019-20 period, and for non-life premiums in advanced markets to expand by 2% to 3% in the coming two years. 

In parallel, Swiss Re expected life insurance premiums in EMs to increase by 1.3% in real terms in 2018, compared to an expansion rate of 1.6% in global life insurance premiums and to 1.7% in life premiums in advanced markets. It attributed the slow growth in EM life premiums this year to a 1.8% contraction in life premiums in China due to tighter regulations on wealth management products. It said that the real growth rate of EM life premiums would increase by 5% in 2018 when excluding China. In addition, Swiss Re expected life insurance premiums in EMs to expand by 9% in real terms annually during the 2019-20 period, and to be driven by a recovery in China. In comparison, it forecast global premiums from the life insurance segment to rise by a real rate of 3% annually in the next two years, and for life premiums in advanced markets to increase by between 1% and 2%. Overall, Swiss Re projected insurance premium growth in EMs at about 7% in real terms in 2018 due to the maturity of insurance market regulations, product development and consumer awareness. It forecast EMs to account for 28% of global insurance premiums by 2028 compared to a share of 18.8% in 2017.
Source: Swiss Re    

The net income of 64 companies listed on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange totaled AED29.9bn, or $8.1bn, in the first nine months of 2018, constituting an increase of 3.5% from AED28.9bn or $7.9bn in the first nine months of 2017. Listed banks generated net profits of $4.9bn and accounted for 60.3% of the total earnings of publicly-listed firms in the first nine months of 2018. Telecommunication companies followed with $2.1bn (26.1%), then real estate companies with $428.7m (5.3%), insurers with $189.6m (2.3%), energy companies with $158.4m and services firms with $152.5m (1.9% each), and investment & financial services providers with $86m (1.1%). In parallel, the cumulative net income of 62 companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market totaled AED28.7bn, or $7.8bn, in the first nine months of 2018, constituting an increase of 20.9% from AED23.7bn or $6.5bn in the same period of 2017. Listed banks generated net profits of $4.1bn, or 53% of total net earnings in the covered period. Real estate & construction firms followed with $2.5bn or 31.9% of the total, then transportation companies with $418.3m (5.4%), telecom firms with $380.3m (4.9%), investment & financial services providers with $192.8m (2.5%), insurers with $170.3m (2.2%), and industrial firms with $119.4m (1.5%).
Source: KAMCO

The PwC/World Bank Paying Taxes survey for 2019 ranked Qatar and the UAE in second place globally, followed by Bahrain (5th), Kuwait (7th) and Oman (12th) as the top ranked Arab countries in terms of ease of paying taxes; while Algeria (156th), Egypt (159th), Sudan (163rd) and Mauritania (178th) were the lowest ranked Arab countries. The survey measures the direct impact on a medium-size firm of the mandatory taxes and contributions it has to pay, and reflects the government-mandated tax burden that a standard business incurs. It assesses four sub-indicators that consist of the number of tax payments incurred by a business, the total time to comply, the total tax rate as a percentage of commercial profits, and the processes that might take place after a firm files a tax return. The average number of corporate tax payments per year in Arab countries is 20.1 times relative to 24.2 times globally. In comparison, the average number of corporate tax payments per year is 24.9 times in non-GCC Arab countries and 8.7 times in GCC economies. Also, it takes a standard medium-size firm in the region 201.5 hours to prepare, file and pay its taxes relative to a global average of 236 hours. In comparison, it takes a standard medium-size firm 267.4 and 47.8 hours to prepare, file and pay its taxes in non-GCC Arab countries and GCC economies, respectively. In parallel, the corporate income tax rate at a standard Arab firm is 10.6%, the labor tax is at 16.5% and the non-corporate tax is at 6.9% relative to global averages of 16.1%, 16.1% and 8.1%, respectively. In comparison, the corporate income tax rate at a standard non-GCC Arab firm is 13.9%, the labor tax is at 17.9% and the non-corporate tax is at 9.7% relative to averages of 2.8%, 13.1% and 0.4%, respectively, for firms in GCC economies.
Source: PwC, Byblos Research