Reinsurance strength cited amid general insurance slowdown.
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has reaffirmed its highest insurer financial strength rating for The United Insurance Company of Pakistan Limited, signalling continued confidence in the 66-year-old non-life insurer even as its profit fell 25 percent in calendar year 2025.
In a press release, PACRA maintained its AA-plus (IFS) rating with a stable outlook for United Insurance, unchanged from the last review in September 2025. An insurer financial strength rating, or IFS rating, measures a company’s ability to pay claims to policyholders and is the primary benchmark used by corporate clients and reinsurers when selecting an insurance partner.
The affirmation comes against a challenging backdrop for the insurance industry. Sector-wide gross premium written, the total value of insurance policies sold before any reinsurance deductions, reached roughly Rs170 billion in the first nine months of 2025, marginally below the Rs171 billion recorded in the same period of 2024. More strikingly, industry underwriting profits, the earnings generated purely from insurance operations before investment income, fell by approximately 50 percent to Rs4.8 billion over the same period, down from Rs9.6 billion a year earlier.
PACRA attributed a significant portion of the earnings decline to a one-off accounting reversal of an investment gain that had been recognised in the previous year, rather than a structural deterioration in the business.
On the positive side, the company’s equity base expanded to Rs8.4 billion from Rs6.4 billion, strengthening its capital buffer. Net insurance premium, the premium retained after ceding a portion to reinsurance partners, held broadly stable at Rs6.3 billion. PACRA noted the company’s conservative investment book, anchored in government securities and bank deposits, and its access to a strong panel of international reinsurers as key credit supports.
United Insurance has plans to diversify into real estate and life insurance. Timely and successful execution of these expansion plans will be essential to sustaining the current rating.
United Insurance, established in 1959 and listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, operates as the flagship of United International Group, which holds an 89.3 percent controlling stake. Its revenue mix is led by the miscellaneous segment, covering hospitalisation, travel, and bond insurance, which accounts for roughly 43 percent of total gross premium written, followed by health.
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