Goldstar Insurance Ltd underwrote UGX3.7 billion more premiums in 2018, than it did in 2017, according to preliminary reports from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), the industry regulator.
The firm, part of the Ruparelia Group grew underwritten premiums from UGX20.8 billion in 2017 to UGX24.5 billion in 2018, a growth of 18%. At a growth rate of 18%, the company grew faster than the industry and was also among the fastest growing companies in 2018.
The insurance industry, according to IRA in 2018, underwrote UGX856 billion (USD227.8 million), up from UGX782.4 billion (USD208.2 million) underwritten in 2017- a 17.5% growth rate.
Goldstar also slightly increased its market share from 4.1% in 2017 to 4.3% in 2018.
This is a remarkable recovery from the 2017 performance when the firm registered a -8.45% reduction in premiums from UGX22.7 billion to UGX 20.8 billion.
The company is now in the top 5 biggest insurance companies by premiums. The other leading four are: Jubilee Insurance Company and UAP General Insurance Company in the first and second positions, while Sanlam General Insurance Ltd and Britam Insurance Company are in the third and fourth positions respectively.
Although Goldstar’s 2018 underwriting profit slightly reduced from UGX2 billion in 2017 to UGX1.46 billion in 2018, the company remained the 5th most profitable insurance firm in 2018.
Goldstar is one of the only 9 insurance firms, out of 21 that were profitable in 2018 and is also among the only 6 firms that underwrote more than UGX20 billion in premiums.
Goldstar is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company with several awards such as the International Award for Excellence & Leadership – Global Trade Leaders Club (2017), Best Insurance Company Uganda 2015 by the International Finance Magazine and the World Finance Global Insurance Award for 2013 & 2014.
Goldstar is also part of the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas (ICOG), a co-insurance group currently made up of 14 locally licensed insurance companies that have raised over $200m (sh745b) aggregated insurance capacity in readiness for Uganda’s oil and gas industry.
Azim Tharani, the Goldstar Managing Director, chairs ICOG.